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  • McLaughlin saves season with dominant drive in Alabama

    McLaughlin saves season with dominant drive in Alabama

    On Wednesday, Scott McLaughlin learned he lost his second-place finish in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, for push-to-pass violations by Team Penske. As a result, he fell to last in NTT INDYCAR SERIES points.

    “We took the penalty, as we said at the start of the week,” he said. “It was black and white. You move on.”

    Fast-forward to Sunday, McLaughlin dominated the field to win in Alabama.

    He led a race high of 59 laps to win the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix for the second year in a row, and the fifth time in his career. He built up a large enough gap to pit on Lap 75 and exit pit road ahead of Alex Palou. A caution with five laps to go gave Palou and the field another chance, but nobody had the goods to overtake McLaughlin on the final restart with two laps to go.

    “We did what we thought we could do,” he said. “It was execution. Like, probably one of the most I guess you could say so proud of the execution, the way that the team, particularly on the three cars, stuck together. We just kind of kept executing. That’s our word for the rest of the year. Keep knocking ’em out. Points are points. Points are imaginary things. You just, like, get them. It’s a reward at the end of the race.

    “It’s about executing. The higher you finish, the more points you get. Ultimately it’s a bonus at the end of the season. We’re here to just take it race by race and see what happens towards the end.”

    Teammate, Will Power, who lost 10 points in Wednesday’s penalty announcement, brought his No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet home to a runner-up finish. INDYCAR rookie, Linus Lundqvist, passed Palou for third on Lap 79. For a moment, he thought he could pass Power in Turn 5. To no avail.

    “I think these guys were obviously the pace of the field today,” he said. “I was able to hold off fairly easily from Palou. I think he still had some fuel saving or old tires.”

    Felix Rosenqvist and Palou rounded out the top-five.

    Christian Lundgaard, Santino Ferrucci, Colton Herta, Marcus Armstrong and Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top-10.

    Race summary

    McLaughlin led the field to green at 1:40 p.m. ET. A three-car incident in Turn 1 set the tone for the day. For which Rinus VeeKay served a pass-through penalty, for avoidable contact. I counted at least six times one car touched another, over the course of 90 laps.

    McLaughlin pitted from the lead on Lap 28. Palou followed suite, two laps later. Followed by Rosenqvist on Lap 31 and Ferrucci on Lap 36. McLaughlin cycled back to the lead on Lap 37.

    Alexander Rossi lost a wheel exiting pit road on Lap 44. Which brought out a caution. Running on a three-stop strategy, Palou stayed out during the caution to retake the lead. When Sting Ray Robb plowed into the Turn 1 tire barrier on Lap 55, Ferrucci stayed out to inherit the lead. It was a lucky break for McLaughlin, who was “probably on the backfoot” when the caution flew.

    “That was a way of us getting back to the point where these other guys had to take the fuel and hope they made the fuel,” he said.

    After Ferrucci pitted on Lap 66 and Lundqvist on Lap 70, McLaughlin built a roughly 30-second gap to Palou. When he pitted on Lap 75, he exited ahead of Palou.

    Aside from Christian Rasmussen’s stall in Turn 14 with five laps to go, it was McLaughlin’s race to lose.

    What else happened

    File under “Well that happened.”

    On Lap 53, a mannequin named Georgina fell off the bridge before the entry to Turn 7 and partially onto the track. Which Luca Ghiotto clipped. In a sports league where fans tape up beer cans to make a beer tower on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, nothing compares to this. Hell, I once saw a bat fly around the media center at Bristol Motor Speedway, and that was less bizarre than any of this.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 56 minutes and 45 seconds, at an average speed of 106.369 mph. There were 10 lead changes among six different drivers and four cautions for 15 laps.

    Herta leaves Barber Motorsports Park as the points leader.

  • Grosjean to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Grosjean to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    In his third full-time campaign in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Romain Grosjean is within reach of achieving a milestone start. When he takes the green flag in this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, the driver of the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will make his 50th career start in the IndyCar circuit.  

    Grosjean, who was born in Geneva, Switzerland, but competes under the French flag, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at Barber Motorsports Park in April 2021. He was coming off a 10-year campaign in Formula One, where he had recorded 10 podium results and 391 points while competing for Lotus and Haas F1 teams, and had survived a harrowing opening lap accident at Bahrain International Circuit during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The incident ended his F1 career and led him to transition to IndyCar competition.

    Piloting the No. 51 Dallara-Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing in a part-time campaign, Grosjean started seventh and finished 10th in his IndyCar debut. After finishing 13th during his second series start at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Grosjean earned the spotlight during his third series start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the GMR Grand Prix in May, where he achieved his maiden pole position and proceeded to lead a race-high 44 laps before settling in a career-best runner-up spot behind Rinus VeeKay.

    Grosjean proceeded to finish in the top seven twice during his next five starts before he achieved both his second runner-up result and second podium of the season at Indianapolis during the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August. Three races later, he achieved his third podium result of the season and the third of his career, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca after carving his way from starting 13th. He would then make his 13th and final IndyCar start of the year in the season-finale Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, where he finished 24th after being involved in a late accident. Making 13 starts in total throughout the 2021 season, Grosjean settled in 15th place in the final driver’s standings with 272 points.

    Amid his strong performances throughout the 2021 season, Grosjean was recruited by Andretti Global to pilot the No. 28 Dallara-Honda on a full-time basis for the 2022 IndyCar season, replacing the 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. He began the season by finishing fifth at the Streets of St. Petersburg in February before claiming his first podium result of the season in the form of a second-place finish at the Streets of Long Beach event two races later. Grosjean finished no higher than seventh during his next four starts before managing a top-five finish in the form of a fourth-place run at Road America in June.

    He ended up in 31st place during his first Indianapolis 500 start in May after being involved in an accident just past the halfway mark. He would then proceed to record two top-10 results during the following eight events on the schedule before finishing in seventh place in the finale at Laguna Seca. With an average-finishing result of 13.7, one spot lower than 12.7 during the 2021 season, Grosjean concluded his sophomore IndyCar season in 13th place in the final standings and with a career-high 328 points. 

    Returning for a second IndyCar season with Andretti Global in 2023, Grosjean captured the pole position for the season-opening event at the Streets of St. Petersburg. Despite leading 31 laps, however, he ended up in 18th place in the final running order after being involved in a late accident with Scott McLaughlin, whom he was battling for the victory. After being involved in a second consecutive accident during the following event at Texas Motor Speedway while battling for a top-five spot with two laps remaining, Grosjean rallied by notching back-to-back runner-up results and podiums at Long Beach and Barber Motorsport Park, respectively, the latter of which occurred after he started on the pole position for a third time and led a race-high 57 laps before being outdueled by McLaughlin in the closing laps.

    For the remaining 13 events on the schedule, Grosjean would manage to record a single top-10 result, which was a sixth-place run at Nashville Street Circuit in August, as he ended up in 13th place in the final driver’s standings for a second consecutive season, but with 296 points and an average-finishing result of 15.2. 

    After not being retained by Andretti following the 2023 season, Grosjean found a new team to call home for the 2024 season in the form of Juncos Hollinger Racing, where he replaced Callum Ilott to drive the No. 77 Dallara-Chevrolet on a full-time basis. Coming off a 24th-place result in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg followed by an eighth-place run at the Streets of Long Beach, he is currently ranked in 13th place in the driver’s standings and trails the points lead by 57 points. 

    Through 49 previous IndyCar starts, Grosjean has achieved three poles, six podiums, and 152 laps led with an average-finishing result of 14.0 as he continues his pursuit for both his first IndyCar race victory and championship. 

    Romain Grosjean is scheduled to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, April 28. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Rinus VeeKay to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Rinus VeeKay to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Competing in his fourth full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Rinus VeeKay is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the driver of the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will reach 50 career starts in the IndyCar circuit.

    A native of Hoofddorp, Netherlands, VeeKay, whose racing career started with karting, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at the start of the 2020 season when he was signed by Ed Carpenter Racing to replace Spencer Pigot in the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet. By then, he had made previous starts in MRF Challenge Formula 2000, USF2000, Pro Mazda Championship, F3 Asian Winter Series and Indy Lights. His top accomplishments included championships during the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship season and the 2019 F3 Asian Winter Series.

    During his maiden IndyCar career start at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2020, VeeKay finished 22nd after being involved in an early incident. He rebounded during the following week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by finishing fifth before finishing no higher than 13th during the following five events. He then finished no lower than 11th during the next four events before having a breakout run during the first of an IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader feature at Indy by claiming his maiden pole and maiden podium with a third-place result. With back-to-back top-20 results to cap off his maiden IndyCar season, VeeKay ended up in 14th place in the final standings and with a career-best average-finishing result of 12.9.

    Remaining at Ed Carpenter Racing for a second full-time season, VeeKay commenced the 2021 campaign with a sixth-place result at Barber Motorsport Park in April followed by a ninth-place result at the Street of St. Petersburg in April. Three races later, he scored his maiden IndyCar career victory in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May after beating pole-sitter Romain Grosjean by more than five seconds. Following another three-race stretch, which included an eighth-place result in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May and a strong runner-up result in the first of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature at Belle Isle Street Circuit in June, VeeKay was absent and replaced by Oliver Askew for the following Grand Prix event at Road America after undergoing a surgery to repair a fractured left clavicle that he suffered from a bike incident earlier in the week. Returning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July, VeeKay finished no higher than 16th during the remaining seven-scheduled events and capped off his sophomore season in 12th place in the final standings.

    In 2022, which marked VeeKay’s third stint in the IndyCar circuit with ECR, he commenced the season with another sixth-place result at the Streets of St. Petersburg followed by a 10th-place run at Texas. At Barber Motorsports Park in May, he led a race-high 57 of 90 laps before being overtaken late by Pato O’Ward and finishing third on the track. With just three additional top-10 results during the remaining 13 events on the schedule, VeeKay capped off his junior season in 12th place in the standings. By then, he had led a career-high 94 laps throughout the season and improved on his average-finishing result from 14.5 to 14.1.

    Through 49 previous starts in the IndyCar Series, VeeKay has achieved one victory, two poles, four podiums, 180 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1. He is currently ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings with an average-finishing result of 19.3 through the first three-scheduled events. His current best on-track result to this season is an 11th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in early April.

    VeeKay is scheduled to make his 50th NTT IndyCar Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Pato O’Ward capitalizes for late IndyCar victory at Barber Motorsports Park

    Pato O’Ward capitalizes for late IndyCar victory at Barber Motorsports Park

    In an event dominated by Rinus VeeKay, Pato O’Ward rose to the occasion in the late stages and rallied from a difficult start to the season by winning the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, May 1.

    The 22-year-old O’Ward from Monterrey, Mexico, spent more than 70% of Sunday’s event trailing pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay. During a late cycle of pit stops under green with less than 30 laps remaining, however, O’Ward capitalized on the opportunity to close in and overtake VeeKay for the lead. From there, he fended off Alex Palou by less than a second to grab his first NTT IndyCar Series victory of the 2022 season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Rinus VeeKay started on pole position after notching a pole-winning lap at 124.980 mph in one minute, 6.2507 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Pato O’Ward, who recorded a fast lap at 124.698 mph in one minute, 6.4003 seconds.

    The first lap of the event occurred under caution as the IndyCar competitors were still working to line up in double lanes under a cautious pace.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced on the second lap, VeeKay took off with the lead followed by O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin battled Alex Palou for third place while the rest of the field jostled for positions in a long single file line. 

    As the field made their way through the 15-turn circuit for a full lap under green, VeeKay was leading ahead of O’Ward, McLaughlin, Palou, Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist, Romain Grosjean, rookie Callum Ilott, Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, VeeKay continued to lead by more than a second over O’Ward while McLaughlin, Palou and Rossi occupied the top five, all while trailing VeeKay by more than three seconds. Rosenqvist, Grosjean, Ilott, Rahal and Newgarden remained in the top 10 ahead of Colton Herta, Jack Harvey, Marcus Ericsson, Christian Lundgaard and Scott Dixon. Takuma Sato, Helio Castroneves, Devlin DeFrancesco, Will Power and David Malukas were in the top 20 while Jimmie Johnson was mired in 25th.

    A lap later, pit strategy ensued as Marcus Ericsson pitted his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda. Shortly after, Newgarden pitted his No. 2 PPG Dallara-Chevrolet along with Helio Castroneves and Jack Harvey. During the proceeding lap, Colton Herta veered his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda to his pit stall for his service along with rookie Kyle Kirkwood, who endured a slow pit stop after his pit crew encountered issues while changing the right-front tire. In the midst of this, Romain Grosjean also made his way to pit road for service.

    On Lap 15, Herta overshot the course entering the first turn while battling teammate Grosjean, but the race proceeded under green as the two Andretti Autosport teammates continued to battle.

    By Lap 20, VeeKay extended his advantage to more than two seconds over O’Ward while McLaughlin, Palou, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Ilott, Rahal, Lundgaard and Dixon were in the top 10. By then, Will Power was in 13th, Johnson was in 16th ahead of Newgarden, Herta and Grosjean and Ericsson was in 22nd behind Tatiana Calderon and Jack Harvey.

    Nearing the Lap 30 mark, Rosenqvist pitted his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet along with Devlin DeFrancesco, O’Ward, Rossi, Ilott, Lundgaard, Takuma Sato, David Malukas and Simon Pagenaud. Soon after, the leader VeeKay made his first pit stop of the event along with Palou, McLaughlin, Rahal, Power and Dixon.

    Then on Lap 32, the first caution of the event flew when Ilott, who was having a stellar run in the top 10, overdrove and spun in Turn 9 before getting his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet stuck in the gravel while battling Castroneves. At the moment of caution, Newgarden, who was on a different strategy from the leaders, was leading ahead of Herta, VeeKay, Grosjean, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Palou, Harvey, Rossi and Ericsson.

    Under caution, some like Newgarden pitted while the rest led by VeeKay remained on the track.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 36, VeeKay retained the lead ahead of O’Ward as the field jostled for positions. 

    On Lap 41, Castroneves got into the rear end of Johnson’s No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda, which sent Johnson spinning in Turn 8 while the race proceeded under green. As a result, Castroneves was assessed a drive-through penalty for the incident.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 45, VeeKay was leading by over O’Ward while McLaughlin, Rossi, Palou, Dixon, Power, Rosenqvist, Rahal and Pagenaud were in the top 10. Herta was up in 11th ahead of Sato, Laundgaard, Newgarden, Grosjean, Ericsson, DeFrancesco, Harvey, Malukas and Conor Daly while Johnson and Castroneves were back in 22nd and 23rd behind Kyle Kirkwood.

    Five laps later, VeeKay stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over O’Ward while McLaughlin, Rossi and Palou remained in the top five. 

    By Lap 60, VeeKay continued to lead by more than two seconds over O’Ward followed by McLaughlin, Rossi, Palou, Dixon, Power, Rahal, Herta and Pagenaud.

    Shortly after, pit stops under green ensued as Rossi pitted followed by Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, DeFrancesco, Harvey and Rahal. During the following lap, the race leader VeeKay pitted followed by O’Ward, McLaughlin and Power. Despite VeeKay exiting pit road ahead of O’Ward, the latter was able to gain the speed needed to overtake VeeKay for position after trailing him throughout the event.

    When the pit stops concluded on Lap 65, O’Ward cycled his way into the lead while Palou, who had just exited his pit stall on Lap 64, fended off VeeKay for the runner-up spot, thus dropping VeeKay to third place. With Ericsson pitting, Dixon and McLaughlin were in the top five followed by Power, Rossi, Rahal, Herta and Pagenaud.

    With 20 laps remaining, O’Ward was leading by more than a second over Palou while third-place VeeKay trailed by more than four seconds. Dixon and Power were in the top five followed by McLaughlin, Herta, Rahal, Rossi and Grosjean.

    Five laps later, O’Ward continued to lead by more than a second over Palou and more than six seconds over VeeKay. Behind, a tight battle ensued for fourth place as Dixon was in position ahead of Power, McLaughlin, Herta, Rahal, Grosjean and Rossi. Soon after, Herta made contact with McLaughlin while battling for position and spun, but he proceeded under green.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, O’Ward remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Palou and more than seven seconds over VeeKay. Power and Dixon remained in the top five while McLaughlin, Rahal, Grosjean, Rossi and Herta were scored in the top 10. Pagenaud, Ericsson, Newgarden, Sato and Lundgaard were in the top 15 followed by Rosenqvist, DeFrancesco, Harvey, Daly and Malukas while Castroneves and Johnson were in 21st and 24th.

    With five laps remaining, O’Ward retained the lead by more than a second over Palou while third-place VeeKay trailed by more than 10 seconds. While Power and Dixon stabilized themselves in the top five, McLaughlin continued to be pressured by Rahal and Grosjean for more. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward remained as the leader by more than a second over Palou. With the battles ensuing behind but none near his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet, O’Ward smoothly navigated his way through the 15-turn circuit and cycled his way back to the finish line to claim his first checkered flag of the season.

    The victory was the third of O’Ward’s IndyCar career and first since he won the first of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature in June 2021. He also recorded the fourth consecutive victory of the 2022 season for Chevrolet and the first of the season for Arrow McLaren SP.

    “[Team principal] Taylor [Kiel] told me we were fighting for the win when we almost got [VeeKay] in the pit stops, so I said, ‘No, this is the chance, man.’ It was so tough to follow just because it’s such a fast and flowing circuit, so I knew if I would have the opportunity it would have been right then and there. I got on my [push to pass] button, got around him into [Turn] 5, and I knew if we would get into clean air, we could kind of control the thing. Once we did that, [we] cruised to Victory Lane.”

    The Barber victory also erased all speculations of O’Ward’s on-track struggles to the start of the season and uncertainty beyond this season as he is now poised to ink a new contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP.

    “It sucks to be at war within your own team, so I’m glad there’s been very positive talks for the future,” O’Ward added. “And man I wanted to do it for these guys, for Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy, they’ve swept this year so far, so I think it’s great for them
I was tired of being 10th, 11th and fifth, so I said let’s get a win under our belts so we can claw our way back into this championship fight.”

    Alex Palou, who notched his first IndyCar career victory at Barber a year ago, settled in second place as he trailed O’Ward by less than a second. Despite falling one spot shy of claiming his first victory of the season, Palou emerged as the new leader in the championship standings.

    “We had a good day, overall,” Palou said. “Super happy with P2. [O’Ward] was running second at that time. I think we were running fourth. Just that track difference, that’s what got us. I did a mistake on the restart where [Rossi] got us there. I think that was all the difference. [O’Ward] was really fast today, but super happy with the No. 10 American Legion Honda car. It was super fast all weekend. Another podium. We were fighting till the end. Couldn’t make it today, but we’ll try on the next one.”

    VeeKay, meanwhile, came home in third place after leading a race-high 57 of 90 laps.

    “We were in a great race and coming into pit lane, and I really got held up a little bit with Jimmie [Johnson], so Pato closed the gap a lot,” VeeKay said. “I was so much looking in my mirrors I forgot to use the push to pass because I was too much looking in my mirrors. Yeah, I was just a little bit too conservative there. So pretty bummed missing out on that win. We had a great car, great race.”

    Power and Dixon completed the top five on the track while McLaughlin, Grosjean, Rahal, Rossi and Herta finished in the top 10. 

    Following the event, Rahal voiced his displeasure towards Grosjean over their late battle and on-track contact. 

    Newgarden, who was vying for his third consecutive win in the IndyCar Series along with a $1 million bonus, settled in 14th place after an early gamble with a three-stop strategy was spoiled due to Ilott’s incident. 

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured one caution for three laps.

    With his runner-up result, Alex Palou leads the IndyCar drivers’ standings by three points over Scott McLaughlin, nine over Josef Newgarden, 10 over Will Power, 30 over Pato O’Ward and 31 over Scott Dixon.

    Results.

    1. Pato O’Ward, 27 laps led

    2. Alex Palou, four laps led

    3. Rinus VeeKay, 57 laps led

    4. Will Power

    5. Scott Dixon

    6. Scott McLaughlin

    7. Romain Grosjean

    8. Graham Rahal

    9. Alexander Rossi

    10. Colton Herta

    11. Simon Pagenaud

    12. Marcus Ericsson

    13. Takuma Sato

    14. Josef Newgarden, two laps led

    15. Christian Lundgaard

    16. Felix Rosenqvist

    17. Devlin DeFrancesco

    18. Jack Harvey

    19. Conor Daly

    20. David Malukas

    21. Helio Castroneves

    22. Kyle Kirkwood, one lap down

    23. Dalton Kellett, one lap down

    24. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down

    25. Callum Ilott, two laps down

    26. Tatiana Calderon, two laps down

    The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season will be returning to action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the GMR Grand Prix. The event is scheduled to occur on May 14 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Ericsson to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber

    Ericsson to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber

    Competing in his fourth full-time season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Marcus Ericsson is primed for a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the driver of the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda will reach 50 career starts in the IndyCar Series.

    A native of Kumla, Sweden, Ericsson, a former champion of Formula BMW UK and Japanese Formula Three who also competed in five full-time seasons in Formula One, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar Series at the start of the 2019 season. By then, Ericsson, who lost his full-time F1 seat at Alfa Romeo Sauber to Antonio Giovinazzi following the 2018 season, transitioned to full-time IndyCar competition with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the upcoming season.

    Making his debut in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March, Ericsson started 18th and finished 20th due to water pressure issues. His best on-track result through the first seven events of the season was seventh in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in April. Soon after, he achieved his maiden IndyCar podium result in the second of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature at The Raceway at Belle Isle, Michigan, by finishing second behind Scott Dixon. Despite being absent for the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway in September due to being on standby for Kimi RÀikkönen for the Belgian Grand Prix in September, Ericsson earned another top-10 result (seventh at Texas Motor Speedway) during the final nine scheduled events before capping off his first IndyCar season in 17th place in the final standings.

    In 2020, Ericsson joined Chip Ganassi Racing to pilot the No. 8 Dallara-Honda on a full-time basis. Commencing his sophomore IndyCar season with a 19th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in June, he notched three top-five results throughout the 14-race schedule, including a season-best fourth-place result in the second of a Road America doubleheader feature in July. When the season concluded at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, in October, Ericsson ended up in 12th place in the final standings.

    Remaining at Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2021 season and on a new multi-year contract deal, Ericsson finished in the top 10 in three of the first six races of the season. After finishing 11th in the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500, he achieved his maiden IndyCar career win in the first of a Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature in June after leading the final five laps and benefitting from a late mechanical issue that eliminated initial leader Will Power from contention. 

    The momentum for Ericsson continued throughout the summer as he earned a strong runner-up result at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July and his second IndyCar career triumph in the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at the Streets of Nashville, Tennessee. The win came after Ericsson rallied from a bizarre early accident, where he ran into the rear of Sebastien Bourdais and went airborne, to lead 37 of 80 laps and fend off late challenges from Colton Herta and teammate Scott Dixon. Following his victory at Nashville, Ericsson was ranked in fifth place in the standings and trailing points leader and teammate Alex Palou by 79 points. Despite finishing in the top 10 in four of the final five IndyCar events to the schedule, the Swedish competitor ended up with a strong sixth-place result in the final standings and in a season where his average-finishing result was 9.1.

    Through 49 previous IndyCar starts, Ericsson has achieved two victories, five podiums, 65 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.9. He is currently ranked in eighth place in the 2022 IndyCar Series standings on the strength of a third-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in March

    Ericsson is scheduled to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, which will occur on Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Chevrolet NTT IndyCar series: Will Power claims podium finish as 2021 season kicks off

    Chevrolet NTT IndyCar series: Will Power claims podium finish as 2021 season kicks off

    Chevrolet Racing in NTT IndyCar Series
    Indy GP of Alabama – April 17-18
    Barber Motorsports Park
    Leeds. Alabama
    Race Recap
    April 18, 2021

    SOLID OPENING RACE FOR CHEVROLET IN 2021 NTT INDYCAR SEASON

    • Four Chevy Powered Drivers score top-six finishes
    • Will Power finished in runner-up position to claim podium spot
    • Pole winner Pato O’Ward finished fourth, Sebastien Bourdais scored the fifth spot and Rinus VeeKay finished sixth
    • Chase for the Chambpionship begins in very competitive field

     BIRMINGHAM (APRIL 18,2021) – It was a beautiful day at Barber Motorsports Park for 24 NTT INDYCAR Series race cars to take the green flag to start the opening race of the 2021season.

    Pole winner Pato O’Ward. No.5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, led the field to turn one solidly in the lead, but a multi-car crash in a few turns later jumbled the field and strategies. Chevy drivers Josef Newgarden, Felex Rosenqvist and Max Chilton sustained heavy damage in the melee.

    Rosenqvist, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevy and Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet were able to make repairs and return to gather points. Newgarden’s, No.2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, day was done.

    Former Series’ champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power and his No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet team executed an outstanding race. Methodically he drove his way up to the runner-up step on the podium.

    O’Ward led for 25 laps, but strategies that were varied by the crash. He turned fast and consistent laps, but after each of his three pit stops, he was mired deep in the field. He battled is way to fourth at the finish. Four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, No. 4 ROKIT Chevrolet finished fifth, and Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing finished sixth. Up next is the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 24-25, 2021. 

    TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS:
    2nd Will Power
    4th Pato O’Ward
    5th Sebastien Bourdais
    6th Rinus VeeKay
    14th Scott McLaughlin
    16th Conor Daly
    18th Dalton Kellett
    20th Max Chilton
    21st Felix Rosenqvist
    23rd Josef Newgarden

    DRIVER QUOTES

    WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND:“YOU PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT. YOU HAD A LOT MORE PUSH TO PASS LEFT THAN ALEX PALOU. WHAT MORE, IF ANYTHING, COULD YOU HAVE DONE THERE IN THOSE CLOSING LAPS?

    “Yeah, I made one little mistake. Yes, you’re right. With the amount of push to pass I had left, it could have been pretty good. I did have to save some fuel, so I had enough to be able to use push to pass for the last two laps. But it just blew my mind how fast Alex was in that first stint. I had absolutely nothing for him. He just pulled away. So, I figured he was doing a three-stop race because I was getting the best lap time I could for the fuel number. But we got the Verizon 5G car on the podium. We’ve had a pretty bad start to the year the last four years, so it’s awesome to get a really good start to the season.” 

    SINCE THERE ARE FOUR RACES IN JUST A MATTER OF THREE WEEKS, WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR THE TEAM TO START OFF SO STRONGLY?

    “Yeah, it’s great. It’s great. I said to the guys if we do this week in and week out, just solid races with no mistakes, I promise you we will absolutely have a great chance at winning the championship.” 

    PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – FINISHED 4TH – WHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY FROM THE RACE THIS AFTERNOON?

    “Track position was everything today. I feel like we executed on what we went for, strategy-wise. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. But I’ve got to give it to these guys. We were the fastest car on track today. We’ve been the fastest car all weekend in terms of qualifying and pace; and we’re ready for St. Pete. We got good points here. I would have loved to get the win, but we’ve got another shot next weekend and we’re going to be going for it. I just want to thank Arrow Electronics, Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy; these guys have been on it. I’m one hundred percent sure that when St. Pete comes in a few days, we’ll be ready to give it our all.” 

    SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 4 ROKIT AJ RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH

    “Really good run today for the No. 14 ROKIT Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing. A very solid day, a very solid race. Good strategies and good pit stops. And good pace. Really happy for the whole team. We overcame a dodgy day starting 16th. Put on a good show and put on a show. Passed a lot of cars. I’m really happy for everybody and looking forward to. St. Pete.” 

    RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH

    “Crazy race here at Barber. G. ot in a lot of trouble on the first lap. Got a flat tire and went all the way to the back. But the team was awesome at strategies. The car was awesome. I felt awesome. We had a great race coming back to P6.So close to the top-five but awesome recovery. All I could wish for. This is the start of an awesome season – so happy me.”

    JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE – SIDELINED IN MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 1

    “I got loose coming over the hill. It was a good start. We were lining in pretty nicely, but I just got loose in the wake. I thought I had the car and then touched the grass and I think once I touched the grass it pitched me sideways. I feel really bad for anyone that got involved in that. Obviously, my mess created a bigger mess. Any of the cars that got involved, I’m real sorry because it was obviously us that tipped it off. It’s a shame. I feel like we had a really good car. We just needed to file-in there at the start. We partially did that but yeah. Wudda, shudda, cudda I guess for Hitachi and Chevrolet. But we’ll come back. We’ve just got to bounce back at the next one.”

    ARE YOU OKAY AND WHAT HAPPENED?

    “Yes, I’m okay. I wanted to just get rolling. I felt like we had so much potential. We had a really good car underneath us and the team worked really hard and was ready to show that. I made a mistake. I got loose in traffic coming up the hill. I haven’t been loose like that at the start of a race here (Barber Motorsports Park). So just feel bad for causing a big wreck and anyone who was involved because of me. It’s tough to have a mistake like that. But thanks to our partners Hitachi, Chevrolet and everyone else, Just disappointed we couldn’t make something of it today.”

    About Chevrolet: Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 75 countries with nearly 4 million cars and trucks sold in 2019. 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 www.chevrolet.com.

  • Alex Palou scores first career IndyCar victory at Barber

    Alex Palou scores first career IndyCar victory at Barber

    In his first drive with Chip Ganassi Racing, Spaniard Alex Palou was able to fend off a hard-charging Will Power to win his first-ever IndyCar victory at Barber Motorsports Park Sunday afternoon.

    Palou completed the race using a two-stop strategy and had one of the best cars throughout the 90 lap event. He made his final pit stop on Lap 61 (29 to go) and came out ahead of Power by just 2.3 seconds. Through the remaining 10 laps, Power tried closing in with the push to pass and was getting close as lap traffic was holding up Palou. However, Palou closed the deal and scored his first checkered flag in his 15th IndyCar start.

    “I didn’t know what to say,” Palou said. “It was an amazing weekend. It was a really exciting race, really exciting qualifying. So yeah, I don’t know what to say to be honest. Like I’m super, super proud of the team. The team did an amazing job, as you could see on qualifying. We had three cars in the Fast Six, which it’s amazing. It was my first Fast Six, and today they just gave me the best car. I just had to do the obvious things right, as Chip likes to say, and we kept it simple. We went for a two-stop, we were able to manage our fuel mileage and our tires, so I’m just super, super happy.”

    While Palou and Power had their own battle just past halfway on lap 45, there was another battle for the lead that ensued during the early portions of the race. Pole sitter Pato O’Ward and second-place starter Alexander Rossi were class of the field in the early going. While O’Ward and Rossi were maintaining the top two spots, there was a caution on Lap 1. The No. 2 of Josef Newgarden got loose off Turn 4 and touched the grass slightly, which made his Chevy spin in front of the field. Multiple drivers were collected including the No. 7 of Felix Rosenqvist, the No. 26 of Colton Herta, the No. 59 of Max Chilton, the No. 28 of Ryan Hunter-Reay and the No. 21 of Rinus VeeKay.

    After the early pile-up, the race restarted on Lap 7 but was briefly brought under yellow again with new IndyCar comer and rookie, Jimmie Johnson, spinning in Turn 13. Johnson didn’t hit anything and was able to keep the No. 48 machine going. On Lap 18, the first round of green-flag pit stops occurred. Race leader O’Ward and second place Rossi pitted at the same time. O’Ward’s team was fast enough that the crew kept him out in front of Rossi. While O’Ward and Rossi made their pit stops, Palou swiped the lead on Lap 22 and battled with Power. Palou didn’t make his stop until Lap 31 while Power stayed out for a few laps and pitted on Lap 33.

    Strategy would be the story of the race as the race went on a long green-flag run toward the end of the finish. There was a close moment on Lap 45 between leader O’Ward and the No. 14 of Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais almost made contact with O’Ward and barely sent O’Ward off the track in Turn 5. But, O’Ward was still able to hang on to the car without further incident.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 45, Palou regained the lead and held Power to an 8.4-second advantage. Before the final round of pit stops, Power erased the lead to 4.7715 seconds. Power stayed out one lap later than Palou before making his last stop on Lap 62. With the stops complete on Lap 68, Palou led by 2.3 seconds. With a win in sight, Palou had to keep pushing as second place Power had more push to pass in the 104 seconds left in the remaining laps. And as for Palou, the Chip Ganassi driver had to worry about traffic ruining his momentum.

    On the white flag lap, Power closed the gap to 1.1160 seconds. The Aussie kept using his push to pass, but not to his full advantage as Power was slightly worried about fuel. In the end, Palou won in his first start with Ganassi and gave Ganassi their 114th NTT IndyCar Series victory. Power had to settle for the 76th podium of his career by finishing 0.4016 seconds behind race-winner Palou.

    “Yeah, obviously went from a three stopper to a two stopper with all those yellows at the beginning, which I didn’t mind,” Power said about his runner-up finish. “I know we’re very good at getting fuel and lap time, but Alex pulled away extremely fast. I was surprised. I actually thought he was on a three stopper. But I think he had a very good middle stint saving fuel, and we came out close to him. I still had to save a bit of fuel at the end there, so in the last few laps I could use Push-to-Pass. Made a little mistake which made the gap not possible to close. Very happy with the day, though. Really, really just wanted a solid start to the season, and that’s what we got here so far.”

    There were two cautions for eight laps and 10 lead changes among five different leaders. Palou led three times for 56 laps en route to victory.

    Official Results following the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park:

    1. Alex Palou, led 56 laps
    2. Will Power, led four laps
    3. Scott Dixon
    4. Pato O’Ward, led 25 laps
    5. Sebastien Bourdais, led four laps
    6. Rinus VeeKay, led one lap
    7. Graham Rahal
    8. Marcus Ericsson
    9. Alexander Rossi
    10. Romain Grosjean
    11. Jack Harvey
    12. Simon Pagenaud
    13. Takuma Sato
    14. Scott McLaughlin
    15. Ed Jones
    16. Conor Daly
    17. James Hinchcliffe, 1 lap down
    18. Dalton Kellett, 1 lap down
    19. Jimmie Johnson, 3 laps down
    20. Max Chilton, 4 laps down
    21. Felix Rosenqvist, OUT, Contact
    22. Colton Herta, OUT, Contact
    23. Josef Newgarden, OUT, Contact
    24. Ryan Hunter-Reay, OUT, Contact
  • Pato O’Ward wins Barber Pole for Sunday’s IndyCar opener

    Pato O’Ward wins Barber Pole for Sunday’s IndyCar opener

    On the eve of the 2021 IndyCar season opener, the NTT IndyCar Series returned to Barber Motorsports Park for the first time since 2019. Last year, IndyCar was scheduled to compete at its annual event, but the race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Patricio O’Ward started his season off right in the Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. The Monterrey, Mexico native was a part of the Firestone Fast Six after advancing and qualified on the pole after setting a time of 1:05.8479 late Saturday afternoon to earn the second pole of his IndyCar career. The pole gave Arrow McLaren SP its ninth during their IndyCar tenure.

    “It was a good day. Practice one and two were really messy. Got really dicey there with the traffic and people being on different laps into the sequence. We didn’t quite get an idea of what real pace we had. But I knew exactly what I needed to go faster. My engineer put his magic to work.

    “We had a really, really quick car in reds. We maintained our very good pace in blacks that we had in practice two. It was good, man. It feels really good to be on pole for the first qualifying session of the NTT INDYCAR Series 2021. These Arrow McLaren SP people have been working really hard. They deserve this. We’ve got a job to finish off.”

    Despite a miserable 2020 season with only five podiums, Alexander Rossi looks to rebound and start 2021 on the right foot. So far, the Andretti Autosport driver has done so by qualifying second.

    “It was great to be back in competition settings here in Barber,” Rossi said. “This track is pretty wild now that they did the repave, a lot of grip. Yeah, it started out pretty strong this morning. We were happy with the starting balance of the car. Then practice two was messy, just a lot of red flags. We were able to get a lap in.

    “Yeah, I mean, it’s tough to come up short, as short as we did in qualifying, because you can think about a couple of areas through the lap where you made mistakes, maybe could have made a difference. Ultimately it’s much better than we’ve ever had around Barber. I think our best starting spot in years past was eight. A big step up. We have a good shot at it tomorrow.”

    Rossi’s previous best qualifying effort at Barber was eighth twice, in 2019 and 2018.

    There were a few incidents that brought out the red flag during qualifying. In group two, James Hinchcliffe locked up his tires and hit the inside wall hard in Turn 5 with seven minutes remaining. After a brief red flag, cars rejoined the track, but another red flag eventually slowed the session as Felix Rosenqvist’s car went off track in Turn 17 in the final minutes of group two. While Rosenqvist was originally sixth, his fastest lap time in the session was deleted due to bringing out the red flag.

    In the Firestone Fast Six, the finishing results were O’Ward, Rossi, Palou, Power, Dixon, and Ericsson.

    An IndyCar warm-up session is scheduled for Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. CT live on Peacock with a subscription. The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama green flag is slated for 2:42 p.m. local time, live on NBC and IndyCar radio.

    Official Starting Line Up for the 2021 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama:

    1. Pato O’Ward
    2. Alexander Rossi
    3. Alex Palou
    4. Will Power
    5. Scott Dixon
    6. Marcus Ericsson
    7. Romain Grosjean
    8. Josef Newgarden
    9. Colton Herta
    10. Conor Daly
    11. Jack Harvey
    12. Scott McLaughlin
    13. Ed Jones
    14. Rinus VeeKay
    15. Simon Pagenaud
    16. Sebastien Bourdais
    17. Ryan Hunter-Reay
    18. Graham Rahal
    19. Takuma Sato
    20. Max Chilton
    21. Jimmie Johnson
    22. Felix Rosenqvist
    23. Dalton Kellett
    24. James Hinchcliffe

  • Pole to Victory Lane: Sebastian Saavedra wins Grand Prix of America

    Pole to Victory Lane: Sebastian Saavedra wins Grand Prix of America

    [media-credit name=”IndyCar.com” align=”alignleft” width=”333″][/media-credit]After starting on pole, Sebastian Saavedra remained strong throughout the day to win the 40-lap Grand Prix of America at Barber Motorsports Park. It marks his fourth victory in the series, his first on the season.

    “I think we did an incredible job,” Saavedra says. “The car was great in the beginning, we were able to manage a very good gap on Tristan (Vautier), and at some point we started saving tires. It didn’t work very well. I think when I needed the tires to help me out when Tristan was getting close to me, they were not there. Fortunately it was only five laps to go. They threw me a curve ball over there with that restart but I think we kept a very cool head, very calm, and we did it perfectly.”

    Last week’s race winner Trisan Vautier finished second to keep the points lead, eight points over Saavedra.

    “I’m quite satisfied about the race,” he says. “Second is very good, of course, you love to win, but the Andretti guys were very strong in the open testing, we knew they were the ones to beat and we got very close at the end of the race. I tried at the start, when I saw Sebastian pulling away, to save my tires and try to do a move at the end and catch him at the end and it almost worked. Then we got the yellow flag, which cost us a few laps and it was quite close between us three on the restart, but then another yellow flag. So it was just you know, I have to thank the Sam Schmidt guys, it was a consistent car today.”

    Vautier’s teammate Esteban Guerrieri rounded out the podium as he finished third. Gustavo Yacaman and Victor Carbone rounded out the top five.

    The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 5 p.m. on April 19. NBC Sports Network covereage of the Grand Prix of Alabama will be televised at 5 p.m. on April 5.

  • IndyCar: Will Power Victorious in Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

    IndyCar: Will Power Victorious in Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

    [media-credit name=”Team Chevy” align=”alignleft” width=”292″][/media-credit]On the final restart with 16 laps to go, Will Power held Scott Dixon off to win the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for the second year in a row.

    This marks the 16th career IndyCar victory for Power and the first of the 2012 season.

    “That was an awesome race,” Power says. “(Team Engineer) Tim Cindric kept putting me in such a good position so we could use our speed. That last restart was kind of hairy. I knew Scott (Dixon) was going to be really quick and hounded me for a couple laps there. It’s good to get the Verizon 12 car in victory lane with a Chevy engine. It was awesome.”

    Power started the race in the ninth position, making a daring three-wide pass on lap one. He consistently worked his way through the field, getting the lead from Dixon following a round of pit stops.

    “(My crew was) on the money today,” he says. “Without these guys, there’s no way we could have won today.”

    Power’s win kept the Team Penske seal on Barber Motorsports Park going as Penske has won all three races there. They won the last two years with Power and won in 2010 with Helio Castroneves.

    Dixon would come second for his 27th second place finish of all-time after leading the most laps.

    “I think today we did a good job,” Dixon says. “We got caught up there in some traffic in the pit, the pit sequence kind of got us there. All in all, Team Target did a fantastic job with Honda, I think we’re starting to get on something with this car, so hopefully in the next few races we might be looking at the top spot on the podium.”

    Pole sitter Castroneves would finish third to keep the points lead.

    “First I want to thank AAA, Shell/Pennzoil, Verizon, SKF—those guys give us great support,” Castroneves says. “To be honest it was very difficult. Those are my tires from qualifying. Unfortunately, I locked a little bit too much, I used them a little bit too much. I mean it paid off starting from the pole position, but certainly hurt me a little bit, actually a lot, in the race. That’s why (Scott Dixon) was able to go off of Turn 2, good run but I was just staying in the middle and not do too much. But in the end, I thought it was a great battle, I think that’s what [racing’s about], and I want to apologize as well to (James) Hinchcliffe. My car was already bad with those reds and as soon as we restarted the race it pushed so bad that we kind of squeezed him and I felt terrible. We were having a great race, hopefully we’ll have a better one next time”

    Graham Rahal would finish fourth for his first top five finish this year, while Simon Pagenaud finished fifth for his best IndyCar finish since a fourth place finish at Edmonton in 2007. Pagenaud now leads the Sonoco Rookie of the Year Standings, 26 points over Josef Newgarden. Newgarden finished the race in 17th.

    After starting on the front row, James Hinchcliffe would finish sixth, followed by Mike Conway, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Bourdais and Dario Franchitti.

    Castroneves now leads the points leading, two points over Dixon and nine points over Power.

    With back-to-back wins to start the season, Chevrolet leads the Manufactures Championships six points over Honda.