Category: NTT Indy

Sponsors AutoNation and SiriusXM also return on the No. 60 entry, giving MSR a big 1-2 punch

(22 July 2021) Pataskala, Ohio – Today, Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) announced that Helio Castroneves will return for a full NTT INDYCAR series season in 2022 and will attempt to be the first five-time Indianapolis 500 winner in the sport’s history as he is set to pilot the No. 06 AutoNation/ SiriusXM Honda.

“Drive for Five” is the 2022 theme as MSR, AutoNation and SiriusXM go for the record books.

“I am thrilled to get the chance to go for a fifth Indianapolis 500 win, and so excited to fight for the INDYCAR championship again with a full season of races next year with Meyer Shank Racing,” said Castroneves. “Mike (Shank) and Jim (Meyer) have developed some incredible sponsorships with AutoNation and SiriusXM, and having that support is critical. I have been missing racing in INDYCAR full time so much! So I cannot wait to get a head start on next year with some strong races to finish this season.”

It didn’t take long for MSR and Castroneves to show their synergy as the Brazilian went on to win the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The victory was historical on many levels – the first race where fans were back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Castroneves’ record-setting fourth Indianapolis 500 victory, and the first-ever INDYCAR series win for MSR.

Meyer Shank Racing continues to deliver on its plan for success. MSR went from a one-off Indianapolis 500 outing to an Indianapolis 500 winning team. And now, in its fifth year, the INDYCAR team will continue that plan with two full-season entries starting in 2022.

MSR also announced that the No. 60 AutoNation/ SiriusXM Honda, which has been driven by Jack Harvey for the past few seasons, has been renewed for two years, with a new pilot. The team is excited to continue its relationship with long-time sponsors AutoNation and SiriusXM, and welcome a dynamic new driver, who will be announced soon.

“We wish Jack much success and we know he will continue to be a driver to watch,” said MSR co-owner, Mike Shank. “MSR is excited to have Helio on the 06 car next season and we’re looking forward to adding a driver, who will turn heads in the 60 car.”

The expansion of the team would not be possible without AutoNation and SiriusXM which have supported MSR since its first outing at the 2017 Indianapolis 500. In addition, Liberty Media’s minority investment in Meyer Shank Racing – which is attributed to the Formula One Group – in 2020 has shown the great potential that the team has for future motorsport endeavors.

In just 42 INDYCAR Series races, MSR has collected an Indianapolis 500 victory, two podiums, two-front row starts, and 12 top ten finishes. In addition to the team’s on track accomplishments, MSR is also in the final stages of building a brand new 43,000 sq. ft. shop in Pataskala, Ohio.

“There are so many people around us that have given us the opportunity to expand to two full-season entries for next year,” said Mike Shank. “My partner Jim Meyer and I have done this in a way that makes sense for us. I am very excited to have Helio (Castroneves) onboard for the 2022 season and I think there will be a lot of excitement around our second driver when we make that announcement as well.”

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, July 21, 2021) — A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears, the first race car drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 four times, have been photographed together many times over the years, including a famous session for the cover of the event’s official program in 2013.

But with each passing year, it seemed those images might stand as a permanent reflection of Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s most prestigious club. After all, 29 races were held following Mears’ fourth “500” in 1991, and while a few drivers earned their second win during that time, only Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti notched a third. Franchitti ran his last “500” in 2013, the year after scoring victory No. 3.

With so much parity in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and Castroneves turning 46 prior to this year’s race and switching teams – from Team Penske to Meyer Shank Racing – the odds of him winning a fourth didn’t seem as good as they had been in years past. But when Castroneves held off Alex Palou for the victory in the 105th Running on May 30, everyone knew a new gathering of “The Club” needed to take place.

That meeting was held Tuesday in Indianapolis. And yes, plenty of new photographs were taken. IMS photographer Chris Owens said he literally took thousands, more than he’d take on a normal race day.

Castroneves has experienced a wide range of emotions in the two months since wildly celebrating on the front straightaway, but spending the day with Foyt, Unser and Mears made it all the more magical.

“What else can I say, these guys since I’ve been here, they’ve been the standard of Indianapolis,” he said with the legends sitting to his left at an IMS conference table overlooking the track. “I’ve always been looking after those guys. For me, I still can’t believe it. Every time I’m with them it blows my mind. They helped me to set the goals, and I really pushed for it.”

Castroneves struggled to put in words what winning the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge means to him. Saying it put him in “cloud nine” doesn’t do it justice, he said.

“I think 10 or 11, whatever clouds you can put above, I’m still there,” he said.

Castroneves even gathered a winner’s ring from each driver, lining them up on the table to be photographed.

“Mine is the one still shaking,” he said. “It’s too excited.”

Mears, who was Castroneves’ spotter for his first three wins here, seemed to smile with every word the Brazilian spoke, particularly those made out of respect to the legends he has joined.

“I kind of know how he’s feeling because I’ve heard him say a little bit about it,” Mears said. “When I won my fourth, to get up here with two of my heroes, even though the (number of Indy wins) were the same, I was still not in their category. To be with them was incredible, and I’m pretty sure Helio feels the same way.”

Said Unser: “It’s nice to be called a hero.”

Castroneves asked the other drivers what to expect as a four-time winner. As usual, Foyt was the most blunt.

“No different than if you win it once,” he said. “You got your first one; that’s what counts.”

The significance of the gathering of Indy legends can’t be understated. Even in motorsports, where speed is the ultimate pursuit, time waits for no one. Foyt is 86, Unser 82, Mears 69. All three have attended fewer INDYCAR races with each passing year.

Yes, all three were at IMS during the recent Month of May, but Unser left the track with about 10 laps to go to beat the traffic as he caught a flight home to New Mexico.

‘’He knew I was going to win, no matter what,” Castroneves said with a laugh.

While Foyt was on his team’s pit stand at the end of the race, he hadn’t been feeling well, so he didn’t stick around for the celebration. Mears had left his perch in the IMS Pagoda to watch the final dozen or so laps in the quiet of Team Penske’s Gasoline Alley garage, which took him out of the public eye at the finish.

But make no mistake about it: All three were cheering for the popular Castroneves.

“(As a driver) you want to continue winning if you’re going to race, but if you’re not going to race then you cheer for someone like Helio to make it happen,” Unser said. “Hopefully, if he’s your favorite, he does it. If not, goodbye Charlie.”

IMS owner Roger Penske, whose Team Penske organization fielded Indy-winning cars for Mears (four), Castroneves (three) and Unser (one), joined the conversation via video call from his office in Detroit.

“What a great day!” said Penske, whose team has won the race a record 18 times. “I can’t wait to get an autographed picture from each one of you. It will be special in my office.”

Track president Doug Boles noted that 784 drivers have started the “500” and only 20 have won it more than once.

“Some days the racetrack smiles on you, and some days you have it the other way,” Unser said. “You never think you’re going to win because your chances are very slim. There’s 32 other guys who want to win as bad as you do.”

The other aspect of “The Club” is that for a period of time it seemed less exclusive. While it took 61 years for Foyt to become the event’s first four-time member in 1977, Unser matched him 10 years later and Mears did so only four years after that. Then in quick fashion Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. became two-time winners.

Even Castroneves, who made his IMS debut in 2001, seemed to be on the fast track to membership, winning the race in his first two attempts and then achieving No. 3 in his ninth start, in 2009. But while he came close to a fourth on a couple of occasions – he won the pole for the 2010 race and finished second to Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014 and Takuma Sato in 2017 – victory lane eluded him 11 straight years. He was running out of chances. Hence, the elation after crossing the finish line.

“Forget about the person, the (winning) driver,” Castroneves said. “After the pandemic and to have so many people back (at IMS), making history, giving a first-time win for a team that’s never won, and my personal thing getting my No. 4. When you put all the emotions and scenarios together, it was just a very special event.”

Castroneves asked about a membership fee for the four-time club. He said he hoped at a minimum there would be a card he could carry around.

Said Mears: “The fee will triple if you win five.”

So, could there be a fifth member of the club and if so, whom might it be? Only two active drivers have won the “500” more than once: Juan Pablo Montoya (2000 and 2015) and Takuma Sato (2017 and 2020). But if Castroneves has something to say about it, the bar could soon be a notch higher.

It should be noted that Foyt, Unser and Mears all took shots at a fifth only to come up short. Foyt made 15 attempts after his fourth win, finishing second to Mears in 1979 and scoring five additional top-10 finishes. Unser made five more starts after his fourth, with third-place finishes in 1988 and ’92. Mears took one more shot in 1992, but a mid-race accident spoiled his record-setting bid.

Yes, a fifth “500” win can be achieved, but it won’t be easy. However, if someone scores it, it won’t be difficult to arrange the photograph.

“Records are made to be broken, that’s how you’ve got to look at it,” Foyt said.

“Just remember,” Mears told Castroneves, “if you get five, you’ll be lonely.”

Key Points:

• NBC Sports remains exclusive home of NTT INDYCAR SERIES and Indianapolis 500
• 13 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races on NBC in 2022; remaining races on USA Network, Peacock
• Peacock to stream all races; home of qualifying, practice and Indy Lights

INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, July 20, 2021) – INDYCAR and NBC Sports today announced a multiyear extension of their media rights agreement.

NBC Sports will continue to be the exclusive home of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge – “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” – and will provide coverage of all NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, qualifying, practices and Indy Lights races across its linear, digital and streaming platforms, including Peacock. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will see a significant increase in network exposure in 2022, with 13 races broadcast on NBC. USA Network and Peacock Premium will show the remaining races. Telemundo Deportes will provide Spanish-language coverage of the season-opening race, the Indianapolis 500 and the season finale.

Peacock will stream all races on NBC and USA Network and will continue as the streaming home of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying and practices sessions, Indy Lights races and full-event replays. Peacock will stream two races exclusively, which will be announced at a later date.

“NBC Sports is proud to extend its partnership with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and continue to serve as the exclusive home of the most competitive open-wheel racing series in the world and ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’” said Jon Miller, NBC Sports. “We have demonstrated NBCUniversal’s ability to make big events bigger with our presentations of the Indianapolis 500, we have worked closely with Roger Penske, Mark Miles and the entire team to expand INDYCAR’s reach across the U.S, and we are thrilled to build upon our collaborative successes of the past few years.”

Said Mark Miles, president and CEO, Penske Entertainment Corp.: “NBC Sports has been the ideal partner for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, bringing our bold and audacious style of racing to a significantly larger domestic audience and fully leveraging the power and scale of the Indianapolis 500. This new deal represents a significant expansion of our network TV exposure and sets us up for continued growth and success alongside a committed, innovative and world-class broadcast partner.”

The media rights extension comes on the heels of viewership milestones for NBC Sports’ coverage of both the Indianapolis 500 and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on NBC was the most-watched edition of the race since the 100th Running in 2016, and NBC Sports is off to its most-watched NTT INDYCAR SERIES season ever through the first nine races of 2021, with viewership up 30% vs. comparable coverage in 2020.

The partnership between NBC Sports and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES dates back to 2009, when NBCSN (originally VERSUS) became the cable home of the series and televised the majority of its races each season. NBC Sports became the exclusive home of INDYCAR in 2019, which also marked the year of NBC’s inaugural Indianapolis 500 broadcast.

The full 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES coverage schedule on NBC, USA Network and Peacock will be announced in the coming months.

All coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will be available on Peacock Premium. Viewers can sign up and learn more here. Peacock is currently available across devices; more details here. Peacock Premium is included at no additional cost for Comcast’s eligible Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and Cox Contour customers.

About NBC Sports

NBC Sports Group serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Audio Network and NBC Sports Digital, which includes NBCSports.com, NBCOlympics.com, GolfChannel.com , the digital assets of the NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports EDGE, the NBC Sports Talk franchise, multiple apps, and two transactional sports businesses, GolfNow and SportsEngine, and two direct-to-consumer products — NBC Sports Gold and GolfPass. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of media rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the NFL, NASCAR, INDYCAR, PGA TOUR, The R&A, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, Tour de France, French Open, and many more.

About INDYCAR

INDYCAR is the Indianapolis-based governing body for North America’s premier open-wheel auto racing series, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The series features an international field of the world’s most versatile drivers – including six-time series champion Scott Dixon, two-time series champion Josef Newgarden and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato – who compete on superspeedways, short ovals, street circuits and permanent road courses. The 2021 season consists of 16 races in the United States and is highlighted by the historic Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions are owned by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. For more information on INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, please visit www.indycar.com.

About Peacock

Peacock is NBCUniversal’s streaming service. Peacock delivers a world-class slate of exclusive originals, on-demand libraries of hit TV shows, plus critically acclaimed films from the vaults of Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and Hollywood’s biggest studios. In addition, Peacock taps into NBCUniversal’s unmatched ability to deliver a broad range of compelling topical content across news, sports, late-night, Spanish-language and reality. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. For more information on Peacock, click here.

Historic Elkhart Lake Road Course To Remain on Calendar in Multiyear Agreement

INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, July 6, 2021) – INDYCAR and Road America announced today a new, multiyear extension designed to keep the NTT INDYCAR SERIES racing at the legendary 4.014-mile permanent road course for years to come.

The series began racing at the picturesque layout in 1982. After a brief hiatus, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned in 2016 to packed grandstands and campgrounds. This year marked the sixth consecutive year Road America has hosted North America’s premier open-wheel series since the series’ return.

“INDYCAR is pleased to continue its relationship with Road America,” said Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles. “It is clear that NTT INDYCAR SERIES events in Wisconsin’s scenic Kettle Moraine have developed into exciting and favored weekends for our fans and athletes, as well.

“Last year, Road America became a central figure in the series’ return to racing during the global pandemic and the first to host a doubleheader. It has been a fantastic addition to our championship, and it is gratifying to know that it will remain a mainstay on our calendar.”

A stellar list of INDYCAR SERIES champions have claimed victories at one of the world’s fastest permanent road racing tracks. Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Andretti are three-time winners at Road America. Double winners include Jacques Villeneuve, Paul Tracy and Scott Dixon. Danny Sullivan, Alex Zanardi, Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power and Josef Newgarden have also visited victory lane.

This year, Alex Palou thrilled a massive crowd with a daring drive and a late-race pass to win the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR on June 20.

“The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is clearly one of the greatest forms of open-wheel racing ever to grace our beautiful 4-mile road course,” said Road America President and General Manager Mike Kertscher. “We’ve had a strong relationship since its return in 2016, and we are very proud to continue the tradition. The response from our fans has been tremendous over the past five seasons, and as part of showing our appreciation to them, we are offering a special four-day ticket package for $122. This special is only available online as a print-at-home ticket, and the special price ends on Sept. 30, 2021, so go to roadamerica.com and get yours today.”

The 2022 race date will mark the 33rd appearance of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at “America’s National Park of Speed.” The entire 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule will be announced at a later date.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTE
JOSEF NEWGARDEN QUICK WIN QUOTE
JULY 4, 2021

LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 4, 2021) – Josef Newgarden started on pole for the third consecutive race and had to wonder if this would be his day. In the two previous NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, he had led the most laps only to have a mechanical issue take away what seemed to be sure victory for the two-time Series champion.

But today proved that the third time really is the charm. Leading 73 of the 80-lap race, Newgarden skillfully negotiated the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course behind the wheel of his No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet to take the waving twin checkered flags for his first win of the 2021 season.

It is Newgarden’s 19th career win, his second at Mid-Ohio and the fourth time he has won from the pole. The win moves Newgarden to fourth in the Series’ point standings.

Today’s win is the third for Chevrolet in the 2021 INDYCAR season and gave the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo direct injected engine its fifth victory at Mid-Ohio since its 2012 debut in INDYCAR competition.

Starting 20th after a disappointing qualifying effort, Pato O’Ward battled to the eighth finishing position. The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet maintained his second-place position in the point standings.

The remaining Team Chevy drivers finished as follows:
11th Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 Rokit AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
12th Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet
14th Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet
15th Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
16th Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax AutoGeek Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
18th Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet
21st Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
23rd Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
25th Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet

Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou completed the podium.

After a needed break from the road, Team Chevy will join the competition in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in Nashville, Tennessee for a new race at a new venue.
The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will be held on the streets of Nashville on August 6-8, 2021.

DRIVER QUOTES:

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING IN THOSE LAST FEW LAPS CONSIDERING WHAT’S HAPPENED IN OTHER OCCASIONS THIS YEAR?
‘I’d start each stint and feel like I had everything under control. You get to the back end of it and I thought I was starting to fall apart. So, it was really hard to hang on. But I had my wingman Tim (Cindric) coaching me all the way just making sure I knew what was up to date. But I don’t know what to say other than this team has been doing the job. Everyone has been giving me a hard time asking what’s up with us not winning a race.

“But I don’t think these people at Team Penske could have done anything different. We’ve been in the game almost every race and had great performance and obviously, great support from our partner in Team Chevy. So, it’s great to seal a win here finally on the year. We’re going to need, probably, three or four more of these if we’re going to win this championship. But this team is capable of it. I’m just excited to be back. Two weeks off was enough. And to come back and finally get a win, I’m happy for our whole group.”

HOW ABOUT A WIN GOING INTO YOUR HOMETOWN RACE IN NASHVILLE ON AUGUST 8TH?
“Yeah, it’s great, right? Good motivation. We needed to be the first pit box out at Nashville, so we got that done yesterday. We’ve got some confidence with this win so I feel like we can make it all happen. I always believe, I’ve told these guys, I believe we can win any race we go into. Nashville would be a dream to have a great result. I’m so proud.

“It’s good to have XPEL on the car. I think it’s the first win we’ve gotten for XPEL, so I’m super pumped for that partnership. Let’s keep it up. We’ve got what, six races to go? We can make it happen, believe me.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH:
“Eighth place is a lot better than where we started. I just got stuck there. I didn’t have any more pace than the guys in front of me so it was really tough to get by. But this was a good savings in points in the championship. We need to crawl our way back into it and fight for more wins. Palou has been strong but we have six more chances at it and I’m sure we’ll be there.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 14 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH:
“Not an awesome day today for the No.14 Rokit Chevrolet. There might have been something to play for but unfortunately, we got a penalty for blocking, which I’m not sure I agree with. That cost us two positions in a game of track positions. It was very difficult to make anything from there, and then we got caught behind Jimmie (Johnson) for a long time and that cost us a lot of time. The last stint was pretty painful on the used reds and I had to give up a position to Takuma (Sato). We got something out of it, 11th place, which isn’t super exciting but better than nothing! We’ll move on to the next one.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO.3 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH:
“We needed one of these days, it was pretty solid. We got compromised a bit on strategy and put ourselves in a hard situation, but I learned plenty about saving fuel and I’m going to need that in the future! It was pretty good, I made a couple of moves and though I lost some spots on the pit cycle, we ended up 12th. Overall, we’re making gains and it’s always nice to move forward, regardless of how many spots. We’ve got a couple of test days scheduled between now and Nashville and I’m very excited to get to a new race in a month’s time.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH:
“As it turns out, qualifying really hurt us, we were buried in the pack all day. We tried to be aggressive on strategy but we had to take on a lot fuel at the end just to finish the race. It just wasn’t fast enough to make up any positions. Good news is that Josef got the first win for Team Penske this year! A little bit of rest before Nashville, which should be a new and fantastic event for INDYCAR.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RETIRED FROM TODAY’S RACE EARLY FOLLOWING ON-TRACK CONTACT, FINISHED 25TH:

YOU HAVE A BANDAGE ON YOUR RIGHT HAND, WERE YOU HURT?
“I left my hand on the wheel. I should have probably taken it off. The smoke I made made it worse. I thought I could almost keep going but it went backwards and [I] got nailed. Just unfortunate. Could have had a really good day.”

ON WHAT HAPPENED:
“(Scott) Dixon was on reds. He was obviously very keen to get by. I battled with him. Knowing that corner, I actually slowed it up a lot. He would have gotten me if he gave me more room. He just squeezed me down so tight, but it spun me out. Honestly I should have been aware that he was going to be keen to get by and almost give up the position. I thought if I could it, it would put us in a really great position with those guys whose tires were burning off. It’s hard to give up a spot. He squeezed my very tight. I didn’t think that was very fair.”

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: Obviously joined by our two-time winner here at Mid-Ohio, Josef Newgarden. Career win 19 which also makes him the winningest active American driver in the series on the 4th July.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Marcus did not make it easy. It seemed like smooth at the beginning of the stint. If felt pretty comfortable. 10 to 15 laps to go, set up primary tires, I was chewing up the rears. I was really struggling to make it to the end of each stint, this last lap, as well.
Traffic was a fight today, too. That kind of ebb and flow at the front. Yeah, overall I think it was a strong weekend. I was just so proud of the way how we rolled off the truck. Felt so comfortable.
I think our balance wasn’t as perfect today when the temperature came up. But overall just happy to finally close out with one of those wins. We’ve been there, definitely been in the fight. It’s been a bit hard to get everything to come our way.
At the end of the day we had a relatively smooth-sailing day, which is what we needed. Really proud of the team, everybody with our partners, Xpel and Team Chevy.

Q. The last several laps, what is going through your brain? Are you feeling every slip of the rear tires? When you pass the finish line, to finally finish one, what does that do for you?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Mainly focused on my pace. We were struggling with 10 laps to go. Super fast at the beginning of the stint. Felt like we could pull a gap on Marcus right off the bat out of a pit stop. Those last 10 laps, I was losing pace.
I was just kind of calculating the pace loss, looking at where he was, looking at overtaking, all that. That kept me busy. That’s pretty much what I was focusing on. It’s not the thing you want to be kept busy with. You’d rather be busy looking at the gap growing and taking it easy. That was not the case.
It was a hard-fought win. I think we definitely had the car to win the race, but it didn’t come easy. These guys made us push for it and work.
Yeah, very happy to get the win.

Q. 69 points back. How do you approach each event or do you just look at the rest of the season and go, I just need to beat Alex every weekend? Is that what you need to do to win the championship?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Just got to be the best version of ourselves every weekend. It sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth. It’s pretty simple, that’s our approach. Every weekend is individualized. They all count. Ultimately these next six races are all going to add up to something.
We don’t have the luxury of room for error. It’s always nice when you do. We don’t. But I don’t think that changes our approach. We’re out there to maximize whatever our potential is every weekend. I don’t think we’re just looking at Alex. I think we’re focused on ourselves and what we can do. We need to be strong, but I feel like we need to be strong at all points in any championship.
Mentally we’re not in a different spot, but the reality is what is. It’s not too bad. We have to fight for sure, but it’s just a harder fight than we would like.

Q. How rewarding is it giving the team a win?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Each individual on our team is committed to the cause. They know what we’re fighting for, working for. They all exemplify professionalism over the weekend. This weekend was a great example of that. Fortunately we caught what looked to be potentially a race ending (indiscernible). Thank goodness we saw that in warmup. That would have just been demoralizing. I could not imagine.
They’re doing a great job staying not too late. They are pretty fast. These guys are really skilled at what they do. They were out of here by 7, 7:30 last night. Not too big of a night. Great effort by everybody.
They are all in all year. They deserve it. At least to get one win for them is very satisfying.

Q. Was it you that figured out the engine?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah. I felt it right before I was even finished with warmup. I said, We need to look at that, that’s going to be a problem.
There was some hesitation. Nobody really saw it right away. We got in there pretty quickly and saw we needed to remedy something. Complete professionalism by Team Chevy. They’re Johnny on the Spot when they have to fix something or make it right. You saw the performance we had today and all weekend. It was there. We had everything we needed to execute at each level.
A little bit of a potential ripple, but like I said, I’m glad it didn’t.

Q. The fact you had to figure if you just kept the performance the last few weeks, finally the bad one would go away.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, you can’t predict what the racing gods are going to do. It is what it is. It’s like the light is not shining on you correctly for the day. Sometimes it’s a little dark, it doesn’t like you.
It’s been good today. I think the performance has been there. I can’t predict what’s going to happen every weekend, if something is going to go right or wrong. If I look at just the facts of what we’re doing, what’s in our control as an organization, what people are doing around us, everyone’s doing their job.
We’ve been in the fight literally every weekend. Obviously we had a little bit of a back stepping at Indianapolis. Other than that we’ve been fighting for wins every single weekend.
It wasn’t bothering me. I knew it wasn’t working out. Of course at some point you keep doing this, of course it’s going to turn around, things are going to shine on us differently. Today was the today.

Q. How was it great to see the smile on Roger’s face?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was nice. Really good day yesterday. Celebrating the 50-year mark for the very first win for Roger and the entire organization. Little bit of a ceremony coming to that moment, that milestone. All the boys, they found this super cool trophy just kind of commemorating that win at Pocono, Mark Donohue.
We all felt confident going into today. Pulling into Victory Lane, he was one of the first people I saw with a huge smile. It’s a dream driving for Roger. Gold standard when it comes to racing. To be able to make him happy, it’s everything.

Q. Through your racing career, I know now you keep this calm and positivity over the last month when things haven’t gone your way. Is there something you did early in your racing career that has helped you keep this level of positivity when things aren’t going your way?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: This is something I’ve learned. I’ve learned in INDYCAR. I have always told people I am very (indiscernible) in my INDYCAR trajectory. I struggled a lot at the beginning. I’ve been in tough situations in this paddock, just trying to fight to understand as far as a driver, not a lot of direction.
It’s definitely given me great perspective. All the situations I’ve been have just added to perspective for me on how this series works, how to execute at a very high level in professional sports, racing specifically, what it takes. I’ve learned that along the way.
I definitely learned it when I got to this level. Now I’m with an organization like Team Penske, I can execute upon the knowledge. I have the best of the best around me, I know how this game works, I’ve seen it for a long time. I was like the new kid on the block for a long time. I definitely got a lot of experience now to understand the ebb and flow of the sport.
Yeah, I’m very focused on what we’re doing in every moment, which is controlling ourselves. That’s what we do. My team backs me up 100%.

Q. We saw the gap shrinking between you and Marcus. Did it ever get to a point that it was close enough to where you started to think he might be able to get you on the last lap?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I was doing the calculations, literally looking at the performance loss that I had across the last 10 laps. I was just sizing up how to manage that. I knew the situation we were in. We were good in the beginning. For whatever reason, the last 10 laps of each stint, especially on the very last stint…
Looking at the numbers lap after lap from 10 to go, it looked fine to me. It looked like, yeah, it’s going to be close, he’s probably going to be there right at the end, but I don’t think he’ll have enough to get by. From my end, that’s what it looked like. I was confident enough.
But I knew I had to be perfect. It was not easy. He was much quicker at the end of the race. I feel we were quicker in the beginning, but he was quicker at the end. It was how to manage fuel across the stint, but replacing it with grip, how do you manage the grip and time loss we have relative to Marcus with 10 to go.
I was watching all the way down from 10 to 1. It was touch-and-go. If I made a slipup, he would have gotten by.

Q. The focus it takes for a 10-lap segment or something like that, I know Detroit race two wasn’t ideal for you. When you have a experience like that before, does that help going into the last 10 laps?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, any time when you have the experience of that, it certainly adds to your toolbox.
Detroit was a little more dire. It’s a good example. I was doing the exact same thing in Detroit. It was more aggressive. I knew the likelihood of pulling it off was lower. I thought today was pretty high. If you do things right, the chances are pretty good we can (indiscernible).
Detroit, I did everything I could to try and see it through. But, yeah, it makes you better for the future with future experience for a day like today.

Q. Is there kind of a cool factor being an American winner on the 4th of July?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Definitely. I wasn’t really thinking about it. It was a great weekend. To me it looked like a stellar crowd here. I came in at 9 a.m., rolling in the gates, a big line, tons of people. I saw a lot of young people this weekend. I saw a lot of kids, a lot of teenagers, which was great to see. Nice to see a young crowd that’s enthusiastic. Some are new to our sport. They were having a good time.
This is the essence of INDYCAR racing. It’s a camping weekend like this, 4th of July, having fun with family and friends, seeing some really cool cars around at the track. A fun factor for the weekend.
To come here now with such a great car at the beginning of it, being able to win the race, it’s really cool for us this weekend.

Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Any time I can race a car, I’m probably going to race a car. The 4th of July, that’s fine by me.
I want to camp here. I’ve never stayed at this track. 4th of July, I’m definitely staying here next year. (Indiscernible) I’m done with that drive. I’m going to stay here next year.

Q. How much confidence does this give you going into Nashville?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, it’s a good momentum for us. We’re about four weeks off, try to keep it up. I’m so excited for Nashville. I mean, I just don’t know how you can’t be so giddy about that event. I know I am.
It’s going to be a huge, huge deal for all of us, not just for the series, but for that city. Can’t wait to experience what that’s all about. Hoping we can have a good race there. It would be great to win a race there in my hometown.

Q. Was there a particular setup issue that made your tires maybe not as good as Marcus’ the last stint?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the balance and the temperature. Certainly on Friday with lower temps, small bump in temps from Saturday. Not looking after the rear-end of the car as good as I thought we were going to. We made some adjustments to that side of the race car and it wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t disastrous. I still think we were one of the best cars in the field, certainly very strong in the beginning of stints. It’s just the back end that left us exposed. Next year we need to clean up that weakness.

Q. Is this maybe a heads-up warning for our road courses like Portland and Laguna?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Like I said earlier, we’ve been in the fight pretty much every weekend. I feel confident we’ve been in the fight every weekend.
We need to keep that up. It’s very clear if we continue to do that in this final stretch, so far so good, we need to make sure we stay on top of it. Performance loss is pretty easy to have in this series from one week to another. We have to make sure we’re consistent.

Q. From Asher: Did your ‘push to pass’ work as planned?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It did. He asked me before the race would you prefer to use it did at the beginning or the end. I said, What should I do? He said, It’s your choice.
I guess that’s fair. Makes sense. I pretty much saved it till the end. Glad I did. I think he put it in my head to save it for the end. Mind tricks. Well, it’s your decision. Made me think about things.

Q. Winningest American driver. Does that mean anything to you or do you just want to be the winningest driver?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, the second part. Look, I’m very proud to be from America. I don’t get too caught up in that. I said this before, the great thing about INDYCAR racing is we tend to attract the best of the best from around the world. If we didn’t have that, I don’t think it would be special to be an American in this championship.
You know you’re competing against the best in the world. Scott Dixon from New Zealand, people from all across Europe, Takuma Sato from Japan. If these people weren’t in this sport, it wouldn’t mean as much.
I’m proud to be an American. It’s an eclectic group, the best of the best. You want to be the outright best, regardless of your nationality.

Q. (Question about Roger having a sigh of relief.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think everyone was pretty satisfied it all worked out. It’s pretty tough last couple weeks to see what’s transpired. Not talking we’re in a rut, but it’s just tough to watch. Man, that’s crazy it’s just not working out.
I think it’s pleasant for everybody.

Q. Given everything that happened, was today’s win any more satisfying?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Not necessarily, no. It just felt really good to finally knock one off this year. Not particularly different than any other.

Q. (Question about Alex Palou.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would give him the highest remarks of all the young guys. I think he’s the most complete if you look at it today. You look at the young crop. There’s some serious talent in this series from top to bottom, whether it’s young or the middle guys or old guys.
Amongst the newcomers and the young generation, he looks to be the full package of everybody. I don’t think it’s a surprise to look at what he’s doing. He’s becoming a good competitor, definitely someone you’re going to have to fight like every other, you have to be better than him and be consistent. I think he gets that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports courtesy of NTT INDYCAR SERIES
109686-1-1004 2021-07-04 19:15:00 GMT
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.

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 4, 2021) – This victory almost seemed like destiny for Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.

Newgarden drove to the first victory of 2021 for himself and Team Penske on Sunday, leading 73 of 80 laps and holding off a charging Marcus Ericsson to win The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. It ended a dry spell of nine races without a victory for Newgarden and Team Penske, the winningest team in INDYCAR SERIES history.

The win, the first for Newgarden and Team Penske since the 2020 season finale last October at St. Petersburg, also snapped a streak of two straight race weekends of heartbreak for the driver and team. Newgarden has won the NTT P1 Award at the last three races, including this one, but lost the lead late in the final three laps at both Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on June 13 and the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR on June 20 at Road America.

Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden also earned his 19th career victory on the same weekend that the legendary Team Penske is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first INDYCAR SERIES win, by Mark Donohue on July 3, 1971 at Pocono Raceway. It also didn’t hurt that American driver Newgarden won on Independence Day.

“I’d start each stint and feel like we had everything under control,” Newgarden said. “You get to the back end of it, and I felt like I was starting to fall apart, so it was really hard to hang on. I had my wing man, Tim (Cindric, Team Penske president), coaching me all the way, just making sure I knew what was up.

“This team has been doing the job. Everyone has been giving me a hard time, asking what’s up with us not winning a race. But I don’t think these people at Team Penske could have done anything different. We’ve been in the game almost every race, had great performance. It’s great to seal a win here finally.”

Ericsson’s late charge in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fell just short, but he earned his seventh top-10 finish of the season. Championship leader Alex Palou captured the final podium position in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Reigning and six-time series champion Scott Dixon helped Chip Ganassi Racing take three of the top four finishing positions, ending up fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda. 2016 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Alexander Rossi finished fifth in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda, his best result this season.

The fraught moments over the last 10 laps of the race for Newgarden were quite a contrast from earlier portions of the race on the undulating, 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit. Newgarden led Ericsson by 6.6 seconds before entering the pits for his final pit stop, on Lap 53.

That lead was trimmed to approximately four seconds shortly after Ericsson made his final stop, one lap after Newgarden.

The gap between the top two ebbed and flowed over the next 15 laps, with Newgarden padding his lead to 7.1 seconds on Lap 66. But then Newgarden started to encounter slower traffic ahead, and Ericsson began using his push-to-pass button more often to draw closer.

Ericsson pulled to within 2.6 seconds with five laps remaining, slicing that margin to 1.4 seconds with two laps to go. When the white flag waved to signal the final lap, Newgarden led Ericsson by .8665 of a second.

One mistake, and it could have been a third consecutive race of late calamity for Newgarden. But he kept his cool and deftly maintained enough of a gap from the slower traffic ahead so those cars’ turbulent air didn’t affect the handling of his machine and also didn’t let Ericsson get close enough to attempt a pass for the win.

“We had a great day,” Ericsson said. “I’m really proud of the whole team. We were pushing very, very hard there at the end to catch Josef. A couple of more laps, and we could have challenged for it. But overall, P2 was a very good result today.”

The strong day for Chip Ganassi Racing ended with three of its drivers in the top five of the series standings. Championship leader Palou is 39 points ahead of Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP. Dixon is third, 56 points behind Palou. Newgarden remained fourth, 69 points back of the leader, and Ericsson jumped three positions to take fifth in the standings, 104 points behind Palou.

In the early laps, Colton Herta – who started second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda – appeared to be the only driver who could keep pace with Newgarden. But Herta’s chance to compete at the end for a win was eliminated by two troublesome pit stops.

A fuel probe issue kept Herta in the pits for 25 seconds on his first stop, on Lap 31, dropping him from second to eighth. Herta’s car then stalled when he was exiting the pits after his second and final stop on Lap 57. Herta ended up finishing 13th.

It took a few laps for the race to find its rhythm due to two early incidents.

On Lap 1, 2012 series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay and Felix Rosenqvist ended up spinning after contact from cars behind them in Turn 4 due to first-lap traffic. Teammate James Hinchcliffe hit the rear of Hunter-Reay’s No. 28 DHL Honda, punting him into the tire barrier, and contact from Romain Grosjean turned around Rosenqvist’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

All of the drivers were able to continue. But Rosenqvist and Hunter-Reay needed lengthy pit stops for repairs and ended up finishing 23rd and 24th, respectively, both two laps down.

An incident on Lap 4 ended up eliminating 2014 series champion Will Power and Ed Jones from the race. Power spun after light contact with Dixon during a hard battle for position in Turn 5, with Power’s No. 12 Verizon 5G spinning 180 degrees and pointing toward the onrushing field in a cloud of white tire smoke.

Unfortunately, Jones never saw Power’s stranded car due to the tire smoke, and his No. 18 SealMaster Honda collided with Power’s car. inflicting heavy damage to both. Both drivers were released after evaluation at the track’s medical center.

Those two incidents triggered the only two full-course cautions of the race, helping Newgarden average 108.405 mph in the victory.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Aug. 8 on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, which starts a stretch of three consecutive race weekends for the series. Following the highly anticipated street race in Nashville, the series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix on Saturday, Aug. 14 and then shifts to World Wide Technology Raceway for the final oval race of the season, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Saturday evening, Aug. 21.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP – WITH QUOTES
JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON POLE
JULY 3, 2021

LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 3, 2021) For the third consecutive race and the 14th time in his career, Josef Newgarden will lead the NTT INDYCAR Series field to the green flag powered by a Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo direct injected engine.

The two-time champion grabbed the NTT P1 Award by a mere three-thousands of a second behind the wheel of the No 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.

Teammate Will Power, No .12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, joined Newgarden in the Firestone Fast Six. The former champion, and Indianapolis 500 winner will roll off from fourth on the grid for the 80-lap race on the 2.258-mile 13 turn natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The remaining Team Chevy drivers qualified as follows:
11th Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax AutoGeek Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
12th Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 Rokit AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
13th Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
14th Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet
15th Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet
17th Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet
20th Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
21st Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
24th Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Colton Herta will start alongside Newgarden. Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi completed the Firestone Fast Six qualifying field.

NBC will telecast the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio live at noon ET Sunday, July 4. The 80-lap/180.6-mile race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.

DRIVER QUOTES:

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: That was a little tighter than I wanted it to be. I about fell apart the second half of that lap. I opened the lap really well. The car has been on rails right out of the box. I am really proud of the team. Obviously thanks to this whole group here. Everyone at Team Penske has been on it! We’ve had some troubles the last couple weeks securing a win, but I can’t ask much different. They are doing everything they need to do to win these races. Excited to have another chance with a really great car. Team Chevy keeps doing a great job for us.. It’s good to have XPEL on the car. They’ve been a great partner for us the last couple of years. There is an anniversary! I didn’t know this coming into it. This is the 50th year today for Team Penske and Roger Penske scoring the first win for the organization with Mark Donohue. I was thinking of how cool it is to be in the car here racing today. Every now and then you have moments where you reflect that you are actually doing this. It’s so cool It’s a dream to drive for Roger and this entire group. So proud of everybody. Hopefully we can seal one off tomorrow—that’s what we need to do!

“I knew the third lap would be the money lap on used red tires. I opened the lap really well and then started losing time in Turn Four, all the way to the line. I was just trying to keep it together – Tim (Cindric) was telling me exactly what we needed and we got it. Really proud of everyone, the car looks good and it’s fast, and Team Chevy has done a great job so we just need to keep it together tomorrow. We need a good, clean day and I think we have the car to do that, and I know we’re capable. You have the curse of wanting to do well and get a good result when you know you’re capable as a team, but I’ve been racing long enough to see the ebbs and flows and I know that if we keep doing what we’re doing, it will come.

“There’s a lot of respect for Honda as our competitor, here at one of their home races. You want to have a good battle with someone who pushes you and they push us as hard as you can push. I’m proud to be backed by Chevrolet: every one of my INDYCAR wins has come with Chevrolet engine power so I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at. I’m looking forward to putting them on top tomorrow.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH:
“The car feels strong. I think the Fast Six was definitely possible, I was on a good lap but the dirty air kicked in and the lap was gone. We had great track position until Bourdais came out in front of us. I had two peak laps and messed up both of them, giving up my second lap for a third one that I hoped would be faster. P11 isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. I’m not super happy but I know the car is great so hoping tomorrow is better.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13TH:
“I thought I did. I thought it was a good lap. But somehow its 7tenths off. If it was one or two, I ciould understand it. But seven tenths I don’t know where to find it. I thought I did one of my best laps ever around here. But the lap time just didn’t come. It felt better to be honest. I am kind of at a loss for words about the lap time. It feels good to be back in the car. Everything is back to normal. I feel good both physically and mentally. It feels good to be out there again, its just frustrating to not have the speed.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:
“It was a really good lap. The Menards Chevrolet was so good. I lifted. I was on a .664 going into turn nine there. There was a white flag and then the yellow came out right in the center of it so I knew it was a moving car. That is why I knew it wasn’t somebody’s car in the middle. As you can see I moved all the way over. I guess it is the rules, but this is the second race. In Detroit I had to lift in the last corner because of Ferrucci who crashed. We were going to get in. Its just unfortunate when you have so much speed. Thanks to the team for doing such a great job. It just makes for a long weekend.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 20TH:
“I wasn’t at my best, I messed up, but the tires were really inconsistent from set to set as well. We’ve had pace all weekend but on this set everything just went away: the car wasn’t even there on Lap 3. I don’t know what’s up, we’ve had some inconsistency on certain weekends, where we don’t know what’s going wrong. It’s difficult to be starting so far back but we’ll see what we can do.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – JOSEF NEWGARDEN
Q. Josef Newgarden, P1, once again. Third straight this season. Last time that happened was 2015, some guy named Will Power did that in Texas, Toronto. Third consecutive pole. Your thoughts on getting it done at the end?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was tighter than I would like it to be. These guys all close the gap quite a lot. I felt we had a really good car straight out of the box this weekend. So we opened really well. And I think for us it was a matter of maintaining that, trying to not lose any speed and keep up with the track progression.
And then everyone around us, like certainly Colton, just raised their game a lot and just about knocked us off. It was going to be hard. You could see how fast these guys were. He was super quick all through qualifying. So it was going to take a really good lap. And thankfully we put it together.
That’s INDYCAR. It’s Mid-Ohio. Always tight here. So difficult. I think I’ve qualified second like three times, something that. It always comes down to being super tight in the end. Very happy to — I think the biggest thing that’s encouraging me for is we’ve had speed all weekend, the car’s felt good. It’s about maintaining that. And if we can keep our composure for the race conditions, we’ll have an opportunity to challenge again and seal one of these off. That’s what it starts with. You get one on the board and it will help. We’re still trying to make that happen for 2021.

Q. That’s pretty good. Both you guys, looks like in qualifying, looks like you’re almost water-skiing out here, the way you’re working the wheel and stuff, the tires almost looked like barely touching it. What’s it like driving a car to the limit like that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I thought it was pretty hooked up. I was more hooked up in the Fast 6 and I thought maybe it might be. Tires dropping off were an issue. I think Colton and me were matched as far as how much we use the tires two laps apiece. That made a big difference. I think if you have three laps on the reds, makes it even harder. My car felt really solid all weekend. I can speak to that. Doesn’t feel like you’re water-skiing at all. Feels like you’re riding a roller coaster on rails. They say it about this place. It’s like a roller coaster, with the undulations and just how hooked up it can be with the elevation change.
It’s a really fun ride when the car’s working well. If it’s not super comfy, it can be challenging, but for us in the 2 car, it’s been really nice with that.

Q. How much did traffic affect you all in the first couple rounds of qualifying there?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: In qualifying I was okay with it. I didn’t have any problems at all and everybody was pretty considerate.26 cars. We were talking about it, it’s on the limit here. Probably over the limit here for practice running, but in qualifying it seemed fine. Once you cut it down to 12.

Q. Josef, how much fun is for you to steal a race from the other manufacturer?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: For me, there’s a lot of respect for our competitor and Honda. They’re a tough competitor for us, which is great. You want to have a good battle. And someone that pushes you — and I feel they pushed us as hard as you can be pushed. So a lot of respect for Honda and what they do every weekend. I think for us at Chevrolet, obviously for me I’m very proud to be backed by Chevrolet. Every single one of my INDYCAR wins comes with a Chevrolet powering me in the back of my vehicle. I’m pretty comfy where I am at and hopefully we can put Chevy on top tomorrow.

Q. Talking about strategy, how much do you think strategy will be a factor tomorrow?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Depends on the yellows. Outside of yellows, if it’s a green race it looks pretty straightforward.
Q. Which has happened a lot here?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It has. But as soon as you try and predict the race, it does the opposite sometimes. So it could be all green or we could have five yellows. You just don’t know. I think yellows are always what flip the script on these things. If it’s green all day, it looks pretty straightforward.

Q. Josef, you guys, you’ve done everything but win this year, a race. Is there pressure there? How would you describe — I think y’all won five of the last six, seven races last year. Quite a roll. But what is it like within the team about getting one on the board you talked about a minute ago?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Pretty normal, to be honest with you. Doesn’t feel any different. I don’t feel any different. I don’t think the team really feels any different. Kind of been doing the same thing, feeling really good. And joking, a lot of joking in the engineering meeting as normal. So, yeah, it’s pretty much status quo on our side of the world. Definitely been unfortunate. It’s probably the word I’d use. Just unfortunate we’ve not been able to have things go our way. Some of that’s probably a little self-inflicted. Obviously we try and clean that up in a year when we have a couple of mistakes. But some of it has just purely been unfortunate. So outside of that, pretty jokey. Pretty committed, and ready to go tomorrow. So same deal as always.

Q. You have race control, drivers?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, I think it’s — obviously race control doesn’t want to dictate races either. Puts them in a tough spot. I think they hate having to throw a yellow and it flips the world upside down for the top 5 who have worked hard to get there and deserve to stay there. So they don’t want to influence the race.
But to Colton’s point, you can only do so much in the rule sets that we have because it’s a closed pit situation. If there’s a car in harm’s way, they’ve got to throw the yellow immediately. If they can’t, I think they try and do everything possible to give the team an opportunity to pit, which is about the best you can do with this set of rules. If we want to make it even better, you know, where we mitigate the risk of your race being ruined by a yellow, then we’ve got to change the rules. We’ve got to figure out how to do that safely. That’s another conversation. But as far as how we approach the day, to Colton’s point, you can only do so much. There’s some areas where you can lower your risk of getting caught by the yellow, but then there’s some areas where you just can’t do anything about it. You’ve got to focus on your strategy that you have kind of gone with. If you get bit by it, it sucks to get bit by it. That’s the nature of this style of racing at the moment.

Q. So you have been bit by late yellows two consecutive races. Tell me, what do you say and feel when it happens, and what happens tomorrow if it’s a third time?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would say the last two races weren’t necessarily — I wouldn’t put those down to yellows. You look at last year, last year was very unfortunate for yellows. I think we gotten taken out of four events, four wins because of yellows. I wouldn’t say that was the case these last two races. Things just didn’t pan out. Detroit didn’t pan out because of our strategy the way the yellow fell. And Road America, we just couldn’t predict what was going to happen there. It’s just an unfortunate failure. But if you looked at last year, yellows played a big role in our races specifically. And those are the tough ones.
When they purely take you out of the top 10, when you’re up there on merit, it’s a hard pill to swallow. But like I said, it’s the rule sets we live in right now. It’s the style of racing we’re used to. We know the drill. If we want to make that better, we have to change the rules one day.

Q. Lastly, are there guys out there that you guys are sick of it, are there guys out there, that are just, like, targets, get your act together, stop throwing yellows?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s up and down, up and down the grid. So, yeah, I don’t think you can point the finger at one person. No one’s trying to do anything on purpose.

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LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 3, 2021) – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden continued to dominate NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Course, winning his third consecutive series pole. Now he must put aside recent disappointments in races and win the Honda Indy 200 Presented by the HPD Ridgeline.

The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and driver of the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet became the first series driver since 2015 to win three consecutive poles. Newgarden also was the top qualifier for the second race in Detroit and at Road America on June 19. But this one was close – almost too close.

Newgarden edged Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian’s Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda) by 0.031 seconds with his lap of 1 minute, 06.6739 seconds.
“That’s a little tighter than I wanted it to be,” Newgarden said. “That’s INDYCAR. It’s Mid-Ohio. Always tight here. So difficult.

“I think I’ve qualified second like three times, something like that,” he said. “It always comes down to being super tight at the end.”

Herta said he couldn’t compute the distance of a 0.031 second difference around this 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit:

“Probably very little, maybe like just the length of the P1 sticker,” he said.

The pole was the 14th of Newgarden’s career — his first at Mid-Ohio — and came on the 50th anniversary of Team Penske’s first INDYCAR victory (by Mark Donohue at Pocono Raceway in 1971).

Converting poles into wins has been a challenge of late for Newgarden, who is one of four winless drivers this season from Team Penske. The two-time series champion got passed by Pato O’Ward in the closing moments of the second Detroit race after leading 67 of the 70 laps and then had a gearbox failure at Road America with two laps to go after leading 32 of 55 circuits. He finished second and 21st in those races.

Poles are always important, and they come with a championship point. But at Mid-Ohio, statistics show the value of the pole even more. Fifteen of the 37 previous INDYCAR races – 40 percent – have been won by the fastest qualifier. Both of last year’s races were won from the pole and three of the past four have been.

Newgarden won the 2017 race at this track, and he will be aiming for his 19th career win in the series.

Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified third with Will Power (No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet) fourth followed by six-time Mid-Ohio race winner Scott Dixon fifth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi sixth (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda). Power advanced despite a nervous first six minutes of the first round when his crew battled an electronics gremlin. They got it repaired in time for him to utilize the Firestone alternate (red) tires to advance.

The Firestone Fast Six was comprised of two cars each from Team Penske, Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline will air live on NBC at noon. The INDYCAR Radio Network will also have the coverage on its affiliates, INDYCAR.com, the INDYCAR Mobile app presented by NTT DATA and SiriusXM Channel 205.

The first qualifying group had a strange ending. Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda) spun coming to the timing line on his final lap, drawing a local caution flag. Rossi and Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet) slowed but per rule had those laps disallowed. Harvey lost his fastest lap for creating the situation. That kept Harvey and Pagenaud from advancing to the Round of 12, and they will start 15th and 23rd, respectively, Rossi and Sebastien Bourdais (No. 14 ROKiT/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet) moved on.

Rossi was one of Michael Andretti’s four drivers securing a spot in the top 12. They swept the podium in last year’s second race at Mid-Ohio.

O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) had posted the fastest time in Saturday’s morning practice, but the temperatures rose considerably – and it will be hotter Sunday – and he failed to advance from the first round. He will start the 80-lap race from the 20th position.

O’Ward will have work to do to cut into the series lead of Alex Palou (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda). Palou holds a 28-point lead and will start 13 positions higher than O’Ward. Palou missed a spot in the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0384 seconds, bumped by Ericsson on the final lap.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Chevrolet) and Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist (No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) are back in the starting lineup after missing races. VeeKay missed one race after breaking a clavicle in a cycling accident June 14; Rosenqvist was held out of two races following his crash into a tire barrier in the June 12 street race in Detroit. They will start 11th and 13th, respectively.

Two-time Indy Lights race winner Ryan Norman (No. 52 KOINU INU/EVO Honda of Dale Coyne Racing with RWR) will make his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start from the 26th position. He will start in the 13th row alongside seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson of Chip Ganassi Racing (No. 48 Carvana Honda).