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  • Brennan Poole to make 100th Xfinity career start at Richmond

    Brennan Poole to make 100th Xfinity career start at Richmond

    Competing in his fifth season with at least one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Brennan Poole is within reach of a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, the driver of the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of The Woodlands, Texas, and the 2011 UARA-Stars champion, Poole made his inaugural presence in the NASCAR Xfinity circuit during the 2015 season when he joined HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro for 15 events. By then, he had made a total of 35 starts in the ARCA Menards Series while garnering six victories. Making his debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, Poole started 16th and finished ninth, which would be his best result of the season. He went on to make a total of 17 starts throughout the 2015 Xfinity season, where he notched another top-10 result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July by finishing 10th. He also achieved 10 top-15 results and an average-finishing result of 12.4.

    In 2016, Poole campaigned in the Xfinity circuit on a full-time basis behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing. Commencing his rookie season by finishing 27th at Daytona International Speedway in February, Poole notched two 10th-place results during the first eight events on the schedule. Then at Talladega Superspeedway in April, he dodged a last lap carnage involving leaders Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler to edge Justin Allgaier in a photo finish and notch what would have been his first career victory in NASCAR. Poole, however, was relegated back to third place in the final running order after NASCAR awarded the win to Sadler by virtue of being in first place when the caution for the final lap wreck was displayed and since Poole had assumed the lead after the caution was displayed. Despite falling short of winning at Talladega, the Texan notched another third-place run at Road America in August along with an additional three top-five results and nine top-10 results during the final 17 regular-season events on the schedule before claiming a spot to the inaugural 2016 Xfinity Series Playoffs. With his title hopes evaporating despite claiming three consecutive top-20 results during the Round of 12, Poole earned three top-11 results during the final four events on the schedule before finishing in eighth place in the final standings. Overall, he achieved four top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 11 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.4 during his first Xfinity season.

    Remaining at CGR for the 2017 season, Poole’s sophomore season commenced with a 26th-place run at Daytona after being involved in a late wreck. He rallied by posting four eighth-place runs during the following nine events. At Daytona in July, Poole notched his first career pole in the series and was running towards the front until he was bumped by William Byron and wrecked with Ty Dillon on the fronstretch. He rallied by finishing seventh. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Poole’s highest on-track result was a fourth-place run at Iowa Speedway in July as he recorded 12 top-10 results before making his second consecutive appearance in the Xfinity Playoffs. During the Playoff opener at Kentucky Speedway in September, the Texan notched a career-best runner-up result after finishing 14.5 seconds behind teammate Tyler Reddick. He then claimed back-to-back fifth-place results before transferring to the Round of 8. Following two consecutive top-12 results during the Round of 8, Poole entered the round’s finale at Phoenix Raceway in November with a five-point advantage over the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 finale. During the 23rd lap at Phoenix, however, Poole’s hopes of transferring to the finale evaporated after he collided with Caesar Bacarella in Turn 1, which sent Poole’s No. 48 Chevrolet into the outside wall with a blown right-front tire and significant damage that terminated his run. He went on to finish sixth in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and in a career-best sixth place in the final championship standings. Ironically, Poole achieved the exact number of top-five runs (four) and top-10 results (17) from his rookie season while capping off the season with 14 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.5.

    The following season, Poole lost his ride at CGR, but sued the team in June and alleged that the organization along with agency Spire Sports + Entertainment breached his contract by moving his sponsor DC Solar to sponsor CGR’s NASCAR Cup Series operations. With the settlement between all three parties being disputed out-of-court at the conclusion of the season, Poole proceeded by making a total of 27 starts in the NASCAR Truck Series from 2018 to 2021. He also campaigned in his first full-time season during the 2020 Cup season, where he finished 32nd in the final standings while competing for Premium Motorsports.

    This past season, Poole returned to the Xfinity circuit with the intention of competing in the series’ three West Coast events for Mike Harmon Racing. He failed to qualify at Auto Club Speedway in February and at Phoenix in March, but managed to compete at Las Vegas in March, where he finished 37th following an early engine failure. Ultimately, Poole attempted to compete in 21 additional events with MHR, Jimmy Means Racing and JD Motorsports throughout the season, but successfully qualified for nine, beginning at Richmond Raceway in April and concluding at Phoenix in November. In a total of 10 starts, his best on-track result was a 14th-place run at Homestead with JD Motorsports in October.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Poole has achieved a pole, eight top-five results, 36 top-10 results, 31 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.7 while he continues to pursue his first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. He has racked up an average-finishing result of 27.7 through the first six Xfinity events on this year’s schedule, with his best on-track result being a 13th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway two races ago, and is ranked in 27th place in the driver’s standings.

    Poole is scheduled to make his 100th career start in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 1, with the event’s coverage scheduled slated to occur at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson to make 300th Cup career start at Atlanta

    Larson to make 300th Cup career start at Atlanta

    In his ninth full-time season as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor, Kyle Larson is within reach of achieving a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will reach career start No. 300 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Elk Grove, California, Larson made his Cup Series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2013. By then, he was a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Turner Scott Motorsports, where he contended for the rookie title, and was set to join Chip Ganassi Racing to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet SS for the 2014 season. Starting 21st in his Cup debut while driving the No. 51 Chevrolet SS for TSM, Larson ended up 37th following an engine failure. He then competed in three of the final four Cup events of the season with TMS, where he recorded a season-best result of 15th place in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

    Taking over the No. 42 Chevrolet while vying for the rookie Cup title in 2014, Larson’s season started off on a rough note with a 38th-place result in the 56th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. He rallied three races later by notching his first top-10 career result in the Cup Series after finishing 10th at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. He then backed up his run at Bristol by achieving a career-best runner-up result at Auto Club Speedway after carving his way from starting in the top 10 and battling Kyle Busch for the win during a two-lap shootout. For the remaining 21 regular-season events, Larson achieved his first Cup career pole at Pocono Raceway in August along with four additional top-five results and nine top-10 results. Despite falling short of making the 2014 Cup Playoffs, he remained competitive throughout the Playoffs by finishing third at Chicagoland Speedway in September followed by two runner-up results during the next three scheduled events. To go along with two additional top-10 results during the final six scheduled events, Larson capped off his first full-time Cup season in 17th place in the final standings and as the highest-ranked competitor to not make the postseason. While he did not achieve a victory in the 2014 season, Larson claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title on the strength of eight top-five results, 17 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.2.

    Throughout his second full-time Cup season in 2015, Larson finished no higher than third on the track as he also achieved a total of two top-five results, 10 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 19.3. In March, he was absent from competing at Martinsville Speedway after suffering a fainting spell a day prior to the main event. Missing the Playoffs for a second consecutive season, Larson concluded his sophomore season in 19th place in the final standings despite leading more laps throughout the season (115) compared to his rookie season (53).

    Commencing the 2016 season with a seventh-place result in the 58th running of the Daytona 500, Larson had achieved four top-five results and seven top-10 results in 23 scheduled events as he was battling within the Playoff cut line. By then, he had also notched a thrilling non-points victory in the All-Star Open against rookie Chase Elliott at Charlotte in May and was leading the All-Star Race in the closing laps until he collided against the wall with two laps remaining while battling Joey Logano. Then at Michigan International Speedway in August, Larson achieved his first elusive Cup career win in his 99th series start following a late battle against Elliott. The victory also snapped Chip Ganassi Racing’s two-year winless drought as it clinched Larson’s spot into the Playoffs for the first time in his career. Larson’s title hopes, however, came to an early end following respective finishes of 18th, 10th and 25th during the Round of 16. With four top-six results in the final seven scheduled events, including a strong runner-up result at Homestead in November, Larson capped off his junior campaign in ninth place in the final standings. To go along with his first Cup career victory, he also racked up 10 top-five results, 15 top-10 results, 379 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.7 while surpassing 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The 2017 Cup season generated Larson’s first competitive season of his career. He rallied from finishing 12th during the 59th running of the Daytona 500 after running out of fuel while leading on the final lap to post three consecutive runner-up results during the following three events. He then achieved his first victory of the season and the second of his Cup career at Auto Club Speedway in March after leading a race-high 110 of 202 laps and beating the field in a two-lap shootout. By then, he had assumed the points lead in the Cup standings for the first time in his career.

    Ten races later, he notched his second win of the season at Michigan in June after leading a race-high 96 of 200 laps while beating Elliott in a five-lap shootout. When NASCAR returned to Michigan in August, Larson capitalized on a two-lap shootout to overtake Martin Truex Jr. and achieve his third consecutive victory in the Irish Hills along with his third win of the season. Three races later, he capped off the regular-season stretch with momentum by capturing a late victory over Truex and the field at Richmond Raceway in September.

    Entering the 2017 Cup Playoffs as a title favorite, he transferred from the Round of 16 to 12 on the strength of five consecutive top-five results. His bid for the title, however, ended on a sour note following respective finishes of 10th, 13th and 39th during the Round of 12, including an early engine failure at Kansas Speedway in October that dropped the driver of the No. 42 entry below the top-eight cutline. Strapped with DNFs in three of the final four scheduled events, Larson settled in eighth place in the final standings. While he did not emerge as the champion, he capped off the season with four victories, three poles, 15 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 1,352 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.3.

    Aiming for redemption while entering his fifth full-time Cup campaign with CGR in 2018, Larson commenced the season with a 19th-place result in the 60th running of the Daytona 500. He went on to finish in the runner-up spot five times, in the top five eight times and in the top 10 14 times during the 26 regular-season stretch before clinching a spot in the Playoffs for a third consecutive season. Despite transferring from the Round of 16 to 12 while finishing no lower than 25th, his bid for the title came to an end amid three consecutive top-12 finishes and after being docked 10 points stemming from Talladega Superspeedway in October after his team violated NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy by using unauthorized parts to repair the No. 42 Chevrolet. With two top-five finishes in the final four scheduled events, Larson ended up in ninth place in the final standings with no victories, three poles, 12 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 782 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.6.

    Through the first 10 scheduled events of the 2019 Cup season, Larson and the No. 42 team only achieved two top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 18.6 and were mired back in 21st place in the regular-season standings while also being strapped with three DNFs. This included a wild rollover wreck on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway in April. After rallying with his first top-five result of the season by finishing third at Dover Motor Speedway in May, Larson achieved a memorable run a week later at Charlotte Motor Speedway by winning the All-Star Open before emerging victorious in the All-Star Race over Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    With a total of nine top-10 finishes during the final 15 regular-season events in the schedule, Larson was able to make the Cup Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. After transferring from the Round of 16 to 12 on the strength of three consecutive top-13 results, he snapped his 75-race winless drought by winning at Dover in October and secured a one-way ticket to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Despite finishing no lower than 12th in the Round of 8, he did not claim a spot in the Championship 4 finale at Homestead in November. He, however, capped off the season in sixth place in the final standings with a single victory to the season, a pole, eight top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 529 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1. By then, Larson had surpassed 200 Cup career starts.

    In the early stages of the 2020 Cup season, Larson recorded three top-10 results during the first four scheduled events before the season was placed on a two-month hiatus amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, however, Larson was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR and released by Chip Ganassi Racing after verbally using a live racial slur during a live iRacing event. Then six months later and following a yearlong sensitivity training, Larson was reinstated by NASCAR and was permitted to participate in NASCAR-related activities in January 2021. Amid his reinstatement, he was also signed by Hendrick Motorsports to pilot the organization’s iconic No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the 2021 Cup season.

    Larson’s return to full-time Cup competition in 2021 ended up being a career season for the Californian, who started the season with a 10th-place result in the Daytona 500 despite being involved in a fiery multi-car wreck on the final lap. Three races later, he achieved a redemptive victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March after leading a race-high 103 of 267 laps as he recorded the first Cup victory for HMS’ No. 5 entry since July 2017.

    After finishing in the runner-up spot in four of the following 10 scheduled races, Larson claimed his second victory of the season in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May after leading a race-high 327 of 400 laps. With the victory, he made Hendrick Motorsports the winningest Cup team at 269, one better than Petty Enterprises. Larson then ignited a hot streak for himself and the No. 5 HMS team, beginning in June by winning at Sonoma Raceway, the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway and the inaugural Cup event at Nashville Superspeedway.

    With four top-five results during the final nine regular-season events, including his fifth victory of the season at Watkins Glen International in August, Larson managed to overtake and beat Denny Hamlin to claim the 2021 Cup regular-season championship and enter the 2021 Playoffs with momentum. With four additional victories throughout the Playoffs, he managed to transfer all the way from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway in November. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Larson led a race-high 107 of 312 and fended off Truex in a 24-lap shootout to claim his unprecedented 10th victory of the season and win the 2021 Cup Series championship.

    In doing so, Larson became the 35th different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series. He also recorded the 14th Cup title for Hendrick Motorsports and became the first champion to achieve 10 victories in a season since Jimmie Johnson made the last accomplishment in 2007. Overall, Larson capped off his championship season with 10 victories, two poles, a career-high 20 top-five results, a career-high 26 top-10 results, 2,581 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.1.

    Entering the 2022 Cup season as the reigning champion, Larson commenced the season by capturing the pole position for the 64th running of the Daytona 500. Despite being involved in a late multi-car wreck and finishing 32nd in the 500, he rallied during the following weekend at Auto Club Speedway by beating Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez in a four-lap shootout to capture his second victory in Southern California and his first of the season.

    Six months later, he achieved his second victory of the season at The Glen following a late duel against AJ Allmendinger before securing a Playoff spot for a seventh consecutive season. While he was able to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12 on the strength of three consecutive top-12 results, he finished no higher than ninth during the Round of 12 and was eliminated from title contention by two points by finishing 35th at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October.

    With his hopes of defending his series title evaporated, Larson managed to claim a dominant victory at Homestead before settling in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he capped off the season with three victories, four poles, 13 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 635 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1.

    Through 299 previous Cup starts, Larson has achieved one championship, 19 victories, 15 poles, 91 top-five results, 148 top-10 results, 6,699 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.2. He is currently ranked in a tie for fifth place in the 2023 Cup regular-season standings on the strength of two top-five results that include a runner-up result at Las Vegas and a fourth-place finish this past weekend at Phoenix.

    Should Larson win this weekend’s event in Hampton, Georgia, he will become the seventh different competitor to win in career start No. 300, a list that includes Ned Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.

    Larson is scheduled to make his 300th Cup Series career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 19. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Rosenqvist retained by Arrow McLaren SP, Palou remains at Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023

    Rosenqvist retained by Arrow McLaren SP, Palou remains at Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023

    Three days following the conclusion of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season, the future fates for both Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou were revealed. For Rosenqvist, he will be remaining as a full-time driver for Arrow McLaren SP and be part of the team’s three-car expansion for next season. Palou, meanwhile, will continue to pilot the No 10 Dallara-Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.

    The news comes following a summer-long swirl highlighting both competitors and organizations that started in July when Palou initially disputed the news of CGR retaining him for 2023 by announcing his intentions of joining McLaren in 2023. Palou’s news of being placed as an option for McLaren prompted Ganassi to file a civil action lawsuit against the Spaniard who won the 2021 IndyCar championship in Ganassi’s No. 10 entry, which lasted throughout the summer. The contract dispute between Palou and CGR also began to affect Rosenqvist’s future with McLaren and AMSP, in spite of the Swedish competitor signing a contract extension to remain at McLaren, but with no specific series announced.

    With the news on Wednesday that Palou and CGR have reached a resolution to their contract dispute, Rosenqvist, who also appeared to be remaining in IndyCar with McLaren for next season, will compete in his third season for AMSP in 2023. The news means that Rosenqvist completes AMSP’s three-driver lineup that includes Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi, who was announced to be joining the organization in June while being replaced at Andretti Autosport by Kyle Kirkwood.

    “There’s no better way to enter the off-season than with this news!” Rosenqvist said. “I love this team, and I’m so happy to continue working with all the incredible people I’ve gotten to know over the past two seasons. With everything the team has in the pipeline, the continuing relationship with Pato and the addition of Alex Rossi, we are going to bring our A-game for 2023. It will be the most exciting season for me so far. Let it be March already!”

    Rosenqvist, who last visited Victory Lane in the IndyCar circuit since Road America in July 2020, is coming off a strong 2022 campaign, where he finished in eighth place in the final drivers’ standings with 393 points on the strength of two poles and his maiden podium with McLaren after finishing third at the Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, in July. He also piloted the No. 7 AMSP Dallara-Chevrolet to a total of 10 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.8 throughout the 17-race schedule. His eighth-place result in this year’s final standings marked an improvement of 13 spots from the previous season, where he finished no higher than sixth place on the track and missed two races in June following a hard accident during the first of a Belle Isle Street Circuit doubleheader feature on Saturday, June 12. His 2021 average-finishing result was 16.4.

    “I’m delighted that Felix will again be racing with AMSP through 2023,” Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, added. “He had a strong 2022 season, and I look forward to seeing what he, Alex Rossi and Pato O’Ward can do when they join forces in papaya. It’s also great to have Alex Palou joining the McLaren Racing family in our Testing of Previous Cars programme.”

    For Palou, the 2023 season will also mark his third campaign with Chip Ganassi Racing. The Spaniard, who won the 2021 IndyCar title with Ganassi on the strength of his first three career victories, capped off the 2022 season by capturing his first elusive checkered flag of the season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The victory along with six podiums, 173 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.0 throughout the 17-race schedule were enough for Palou to conclude the season in fifth place in the final standings despite tying Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin for fourth place with 510 points.

    Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Following the news, Palou, who will still participate in a McLaren F1 testing session at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain this week, took to social media to confirm his racing plans for next season.

    With both drivers’ plans for next season set, they turn their attention to contend for the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series championship. The 2023 schedule remains to be determined.

  • Power clinches second IndyCar Series championship; Palou dominates season finale at Laguna Seca

    Power clinches second IndyCar Series championship; Palou dominates season finale at Laguna Seca

    Will Power capped off a strong consistent season with his second NTT IndyCar Series championship while Alex Palou capped off an up-and-down season embroiled with off-track drama amid his racing future by winning the season-finale Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, September 11.

    Power, the 2014 IndyCar champion from Toowoomba, Australia, commenced the championship weekend on a high note by surpassing Mario Andretti for the most poles in IndyCar history at 68 on Saturday. During the main event on Sunday, he outlasted a variety of strategies and on-track competition from his fellow competitors and teammates to finish in third place behind race winner Palou and runner-up Newgarden, who fell short of overtaking his veteran teammate at Team Penske and spoiling the party of having his shot of winning his title.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, points leader Will Power claimed his record-setting 68th IndyCar career pole position after posting a pole-winning qualifying lap at 112.505 mph in 71.6127 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Callum Ilott, who recorded the second-best qualifying lap at 112.475 mph in 71.6320 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Power took off with an early advantage through the first two turns. Behind, Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward both made a three-wide move on Callot to move up to second and third as the field scrambled and jostled for early positions. Through Turn 2, Helio Castroneves went off the course in the sand, but the event remained under green.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Power was leading ahead of Rossi, O’Ward, Ilott and Romain Grosjean while rookie David Malukas, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Simon Pagenaud and Marcus Ericsson were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dixon was in 13th and Newgarden, who started at the rear of the field, was mired back in 19th.

    By the ninth lap, the first round of green flag pit stops ensued as Colton Herta, Dixon and Ericsson pitted. Back at the front, Power was still out in front by three-and-a-half second over Rossi followed by O’Ward, Ilott and Grosjean. When Lap 15 struck amid a continuation of green flag pit stops, Power surrendered the lead to pit as Ilott and Palou moved up the top of the leaderboard.

    Nearly 10 laps later and with nearly the entire field having made at least one pit stop under green, except for the leader Felix Rosenqvist, another round of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Rosenqvist pitted. By then, Newgarden also pitted as Power cycled back to the lead over Alex Palou, O’Ward and Ilott. On Lap 26, however, Palou muscled his No. 10 NTT Data Dallara-Honda back into the lead over Power’s No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet in Turn 4.

    Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Palou was ahead by more than five seconds over Power followed by O’Ward, Ilott and Rosenqvist while Rossi, Grosjean, Ericsson, Ludngaard and Newgarden were in the top 10. Meanwhile, McLaughlin, who was just in the top 10, pitted under green while Dixon was mired back in 23rd.

    Five laps later, Palou continued to lead by more than 10 seconds over Power followed by Rosenqvist, O’Ward and Ilott. Another three laps later, the front-runners led by Palou pitted under green as Palou remained in front of Power, Rosenqvist, O’Ward and Newgarden.

    Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew when Ilott, who was having a stellar run on the track after starting on the front row for the first time in his career, stopped his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet on the track in Turn 2 and retired due to a mechanical issue.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 42, Palou retained the lead ahead of Power, Rosenqvist, O’Ward and the field in spite of Graham Rahal going off the course. While Palou maintained a steady advantage over the field, Power continued to fend off Rosenqvist for second while Newgarden bolted his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet into fourth place over O’Ward through the Corkscrew section.

    By Lap 45 and with the event surpassing its halfway mark, Palou was leading by more than five seconds over Power, who was locked in a tight battle against teammate and title contender Newgarden while Rosenqvist and Grosjean were in the top five. Meanwhile, O’Ward was mired back in sixth while Ericsson, McLaughlin, Rahal and Lundgaard were in the top 10 in front of Dixon.

    With 45 laps remaining, Palou continued to lead by more than eight seconds over Newgarden while the championship leader Power settled in third. Grosjean was up in fourth in front of Rosenqvist while O’Ward, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Rahal and Lundgaard occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Dixon, who just pitted under green, was back in 23rd behind Takuma Sato.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Palou, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, was leading by nearly 19 seconds over runner-up Power, who continued to maintain his lead in the championship standings and had completed a pit stop under green. Grosjean moved up to third in front of Rosenqvist, Newgarden and O’Ward. Lundgaard, the leading Rookie-of-the-Year contender, was in seventh while Rossi, Herta and Malukas were in the top 10. McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    Then two laps later and with some of the front-runners pitting under green, including Palou, Newgarden, who has yet to pit, cycled his way into the lead after pulling ahead of Palou as he ignited his final bid to capture his third IndyCar title over teammate Power, who was in third. 

    With 22 laps remaining, Newgarden surrendered the lead to Palou as he pitted under green. When he returned to the track, he managed to keep his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet in the runner-up spot ahead of teammate Power, who pitted prior to the final 30 laps.

    Seven laps later and with 15 laps remaining, Palou remained as the leader by more than 25 seconds over Newgarden while Power settled in third. By then, Grosjean and Rosenqvist were in the top five while McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon were in 10th, 11th and 12th.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Palou continued to lead by more than 28 seconds over Newgarden while third-place Power remained in third and maintained the lead in the championship standings. Grosjean and Rosenqvist remained in the top five followed by Lundgaard, Rossi, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Herta while O’Ward, who was in the top 10, pitted his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet before blending back on the track in 12th behind Dixon.

    With five laps remaining, Palou stabilized his huge advantage to 29 seconds over Newgarden, who continued to run one spot ahead of teammate Power but was unable to overtake his Team Penske teammate for the lead in the championship standings. Meanwhile, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon were back in eighth, ninth and 11th as their title hopes were slowly evaporating.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Palou remained as the leader by over Newgarden with Power pursuing behind. Having no direct competition lingering behind him for a final lap, Palou was able to cruise his way through the circuit for a final time as he captured his first elusive checkered flag of the 2022 season by more than 30 seconds over Newgarden.

    With the victory, Palou grabbed his fourth career win in the NTT IndyCar Series, his first at Laguna Seca and first since winning at Portland International Speedway in September 2021. The victory was enough for the reigning IndyCar champion to conclude the season tied with Scott McLaughlin for fourth place in the final drivers’ standings as he enters this off-season period with uncertainty amid his contract dispute with Chip Ganassi Racing.

    Photo by James Black (Penske Entertainment).

    “We struggled a bit some races, especially last couple of races,” Palou said on NBC. “Today was awesome. Awesome job by all the team. Strategy was on point. It’s good to finish a season with a win. It was just an awesome day. Struggled a bit during the whole weekend, and I don’t know what happened today, but everything clicked, so super happy to win a race this year. We’re gonna enjoy the moment now and we’ll see what happens [next year].”

    While Palou celebrated a victory, Power celebrated his second NTT IndyCar Series championship after finishing third, one spot behind teammate Newgarden, who rallied from the rear of the field but fell 16 points shy to his Team Penske veteran. With the accomplishment, Power became the first repeat IndyCar champion since Scott Dixon won his sixth title in 2020 as he recorded his first title since 2014 and the 17th IndyCar title for Team Penske, which extended the team’s record.

    Overall, Power concluded the 2022 season with a single victory after winning the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at The Raceway at Belle Isle in Michigan. He also recorded four poles, nine podiums and 13 top-five results throughout the 17-race schedule.

    “I couldn’t have [planned a perfect weekend],” Power said. “Let me tell you. In the off-season, my wife said to me, ‘I believe you’re gonna beat Mario’s [Andretti] record [in poles] and you’re gonna win the championship. She said that to me. It actually gave me confidence that I could do it. The fact that she said that, that’s how much confidence I have in her gut feel. I just couldn’t believe that that came true. I just knew I had to get the most out of those stints and not lose any more positions. Man, I had to drive the [car] today. It was on the edge. Very loose. What a relief to get that done. I can’t thank Verizon enough. They’ve been with me for close to 12 years now. Without them, I would never have had this career and obviously, [team owner] Roger Penske, the whole team and Chevrolet.”

    Meanwhile, Newgarden remained positive in a season where he achieved a season-high five victories, a pole and six podiums throughout the 17-race schedule.

    “You know, I hate to say it, but in a lot of ways, this has been a really tough year,” Newgarden said. “It’s gonna be a welcome off-season. Mentally, it’s been a taxing season. We’ve had a lot of highs, but we’ve had a lot of lows. Just riding the roller coaster this year has brought me to a braking point at a couple points in the year, but I’m proud of the team. This is a big day for everybody. To win the championship, huge congrats to Will [Power] and the entire [Penske] team. This is an effort by everybody, whether it’s the No. 2 car, the No. 12 or No. 3. We all take a lot of pride in it. All these crew members, they work on every single car. The ultimate goal is to win a championship for Team Penske. We did that. There’s a ton to be proud of. We nearly got there. We’re gonna come back stronger next year. We got to be in a different position and I know we can do better than what we did this year.”

    Meanwhile, Scott Dixon finished 12th on the track and in third place in the final standings, the highest Chip Ganassi Racing competitor in the standings but 39 points shy of winning his record-tying seventh IndyCar championship. Nonetheless, he capped off the season with two victories, which tallied his wins total to 53 as it marks the second-most victories in American open-wheel competition behind AJ Foyt (67). He also recorded a pole and a total of four podiums throughout the season.

    “We ultimately just didn’t have the pace,” Dixon said. “I think it was definitely a strange race in the fact that we tried everything we could. Just frustrating. I think that we couldn’t bring what we needed to today. Congrats to Palou and obviously, a big congrats to Will Power. It was a tremendous year that he ran there. You win some, you lose some. I know this team never gave up. We pushed as hard as we could all year. Unfortunately. we ended up third.”

    Scott McLaughlin, who came into the event trailing teammate Power by 41 points, ended up in sixth place on the track and in a tie with Alex Palou for fourth place in the standings, 51 points shy of his first IndyCar title despite claiming his first three IndyCar career victories. Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 champion, fell back to sixth in the standings and 54 points shy of his first title.

    Felix Rosenqvist finished fourth on the track followed by rookie Christian Lundgaard while McLaughlin, Grosjean, O’Ward, Ericsson and Alexander Rossi completed the top 10.

    Lundgaard, who finished 14th in the final standings, was named the recipient of the 2022 IndyCar Rookie-of-the-Year title by finishing two spots ahead of the second-highest rookie candidate: David Malukas.

    Chevrolet wrapped up the manufacturers’ title with 1,510 points, 211 points over Honda, in a season where the manufacturer achieved 11 victories throughout the 17-race schedule.

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

    Race Results.

    1. Alex Palou, 67 laps led

    2. Josef Newgarden, five laps led

    3. Will Power, 17 laps led

    4. Felix Rosenqvist, five laps led

    5. Christian Lundgaard

    6. Scott McLaughlin

    7. Romain Grosjean

    8. Pato O’Ward

    9. Marcus Ericsson

    10. Alexander Rossi

    11. Colton Herta

    12. Scott Dixon

    13. David Malukas

    14. Rinus VeeKay

    15. Devlin DeFrancesco

    16. Jimmie Johnson

    17. Simon Pagenaud

    18. Graham Rahal

    19. Helio Castroneves

    20. Jack Harvey

    21. Kyle Kirkwood

    22. Simona De Silvestro 

    23. Takuma Sato

    24. Conor Daly

    25. Dalton Kellett

    26. Callum Ilott – OUT, Mechanical, one lap led

    *Bold indicates 2022 NTT IndyCar Series champion

    Final standings

    1. Will Power – 560 points

    2. Josef Newgarden – 544 points

    3. Scott Dixon – 521 points

    4. Scott McLaughlin – 510 points

    5. Alex Palou – 510 points

    6. Marcus Ericsson – 506 points

    7. Pato O’Ward – 480 points

    8. Felix Rosenqvist – 393 points

    9. Alexander Rossi – 381 points

    10. Colton Herta – 381 points

    11. Graham Rahal – 345 points

    12. Rinus VeeKay – 331 points

    13. Romain Grosjean – 328 points

    14. Christian Lundgaard – 323 points

    15. Simon Pagenaud – 314 points

    16. David Malukas – 305 points

    17. Conor Daly – 267 points

    18. Helio Castroneves – 263 points

    19. Takuma Sato – 258 points

    20. Callum Ilott – 219 points

    The NTT IndyCar Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action in 2023 for a new season of competition. The 2023 schedule is yet to be determined.

  • Dixon wins at Toronto, ties Mario Andretti for second place on all-time wins list

    Dixon wins at Toronto, ties Mario Andretti for second place on all-time wins list

    The NTT IndyCar Series’ return to the north of the border produced two achievements for Scott Dixon after Dixon prevailed over a 19-run dash to the finish to win the Honda Indy Toronto at the Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, July 17.

    The six-time IndyCar champion from Brisbane, Australia, who started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Colton Herta, utilized his planned pit strategy to perfection as he cycled to the lead on Lap 32 of 85. From there, he led a total of 40 laps as he fended Herta and Felix Rosenqvist to snap a 23-race winless drought and move into a tie with Mario Andretti for second place on the all-time IndyCar Series wins list with his 52nd career victory.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Colton Herta became the first multi-pole winner of this season after he clocked in a pole-winning lap at 108.480 mph in 59.2698 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Scott Dixon, whose best time occurred at 108.317 mph in 59.3592 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Herta cleared the field entering the first turn and took off with the lead followed by Dixon while Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi battled for third in front of Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas. As the field filed in a long single-file line through 11-turn street circuit, Herta led the first lap over Dixon.

    During the following lap, however, the first caution flew due to debris in Turn 8 and when an early contact within the field resulted with Takuma Sato’s left-front tire to blow and his left-front suspension to break as his event came to an early end. Under caution, some like rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Dalton Kellett and Conor Daly pitted while the rest led by Herta remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the fourth lap, Herta retained the lead ahead of Dixon and Newgarden while Felix Rosenqvist made an early move on Malukas to move into sixth place as the field remained in a long single-file line.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herta remained as the leader by more than a second over Dixon followed by Newgarden, Rossi and McLaughlin while Rosenqvist, Malukas, rookie Callum Ilott, Marcus Ericsson and rookie Christian Lundgaard were scored in the top 10. By then, Alex Palou pitted his No. 10 NTT Data Dallara-Honda under green.

    Two laps later, names like Simon Pagenaud, Newgarden, Lundgaard, Rossi and Romain Grosjean pitted under green. Malukas, Will Power, Ilott, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jack Harvey, Ericsson, Grosjean, Newgarden and Rossi would also pit during the proceeding laps from Laps 13 to 17.

    By Lap 18, Herta surrendered the lead to pit under green along with Scott McLaughlin as Felix Rosenqvist emerged as the leader followed by Graham Rahal, Helio Castroneves, Rinus VeeKay and Pato O’Ward. Once the field reached the Lap 20 mark, Rahal inherited the lead while Rosenqvist pitted under green.

    Two laps later, Ilott, who was running in 16th place, locked up his front tires and briefly went off the course, though he managed to cycle his way back on the circuit without drawing a caution.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Graham Rahal was leading by more than six seconds over Rinus VeeKay followed by Pato O’Ward, Jimmie Johnson and Scott Dixon while Herta was back in sixth ahead of Conor Daly, Newgarden, Rossi and Malukas. Once Rahal pitted a lap later, however, VeeKay emerged with the lead followed by O’Ward while Herta moved back into the top five.

    On Lap 29, O’Ward made a bold move beneath VeeKay entering the third turn to move his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet into the lead. Once VeeKay and O’Ward pitted during the following three and four laps later, Dixon cycled his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the lead followed by Herta, Johnson, Daly and Newgarden. By then, Kellett also pitted after his No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA Dallara-Chevrolet was billowing smoke, a mechanical issue that would eliminate him from further contention.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 42 and 43, Dixon continued to lead by more than two seconds over Herta while Newgarden, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Malukas, McLaughlin, Ericsson, Pagenaud and Rahal were running in the top 10. By then, Palou was in 11th ahead of Lundgaard, VeeKay, O’Ward and Grosjean while DeFrancesco, Power, Castroneves, Harvey and Daly were in the top 20 ahead of Johnson.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Felix Rosenqvist, who gained a huge run on Alexander Rossi entering Turn 3, made contact with Rossi in the third turn, which sent Rossi’s No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Dallara-Honda hard into the outside wall as his event came to an end.

    Under caution, the leaders led by Dixon pitted as Dixon exited first followed by Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Rahal. Back on the track, however, VeeKay, who remained on the track, inherited the lead along with teammate Conor Daly.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 49, VeeKay took off with the top spot followed by Daly while Dixon was back in third ahead of Herta and Rosenqvist. 

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution returned due to a piece of concrete asphalt that was reported on the track. During the caution period, Daly pitted while the rest of the field led by VeeKay and Dixon remained on the track.

    With 27 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as VeeKay retained the lead followed by Dixon, Herta, Rosenqvist and McLaughlin. As the field jostled for late positions through the turns, Palou made contact with teammate Ericsson through Turns 3 to 5 while battling for eighth place. Shortly after, the caution flew when Kyle Kirkwood collided into Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda in Turn 9 as both competitors came to a rest in the turn. During the caution period, VeeKay surrendered the lead to pit while Dixon assumed the lead.

    Down to the final 19 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Dixon was able to jump ahead with the lead followed by Herta and Rosenqvist while Rahal made a bold move on McLaughlin entering the first turn to move into fourth place, where he was followed by Pagenaud, Ericsson and a hard-charging Palou. As the field fanned out and jumbled for positions, Dixon started to gap Herta by a second. By then, McLaughlin had fallen back to ninth in front of Newgarden.

    With 15 laps remaining, Dixon extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Herta followed by Rosenqvist, Rahal and Ericsson while Palou, Pagenaud, Lundgaard, McLaughlin and Newgarden were in the top 10. By then, O’Ward was in 11th, VeeKay was back in 13th and Power was mired in 15th.

    With less than 10 laps remaining, Dixon continued to lead by nearly two seconds over both Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda and Rosenqvist’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet. He continued to retain the lead by more than two seconds as the field hit the final five-lap mark.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Dixon remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Herta and Rosenqvist. As Herta and Rosenqvist continued to battle for the runner-up spot, this allowed Dixon to drive away with a clear race track in front of him. With no striking challenges approaching him through the 11-turn circuit, Dixon was able to cycle back to the finish line as he claimed his first checkered flag of the 2022 season and became the seventh different winner of this season.

    In addition, Dixon claimed his fourth victory at Toronto, the second victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing, the third for Honda and his 52nd career win in the IndyCar Series, which placed him in a tie with Mario Andretti for second place on the all-time IndyCar wins list as he now trails the all-time wins leader AJ Foyt, who holds 67 victories. The victory was Dixon’s first since winning the first of a Texas Motor Speedway doubleheader feature in May 2021 as he also extended his winning streak to 18 consecutive IndyCar seasons.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “It was a tough drive,” Dixon said on Peacock. “[I] Ended a streak there, which is fantastic. Just so happy for the team. It’s been a crazy year for the No. 9 [team]. I still feel extremely bad for all our partners and everybody involved for the [Indianapolis] 500. The PNC Bank No. 9 [Honda] back in winner’s circle. Man, it just feels so good. Massive thank you to Honda. To get that fuel mileage, today, was so easy.”

    “It’s amazing,” Dixon added, “To be close to Mario, every time I’m asked these questions, I’m just so thankful that we still have AJ [Foyt] and [Andretti] in the pits. We get to see them. We get to talk to them. Just fantastic. It’s huge, man. Just feel so lucky to be a part of this group. Hopefully, we’re kind of in the title hunt now. I’m hoping this is the start of the roll. It was just tremendous to see all the teams work really well this weekend.” 

    Herta, who led 17 laps, settled in second place and more than eight-tenths of a second behind Dixon while Rosenqvist achieved his first podium result in more than a season after finishing in third place.

    “Felix was really fast,” Herta said. “I’m glad we were able to keep him behind us. We just struggled with tire wear. Other than that, our car was amazing, and obviously got beat by Dixon, but one of those races I have to be proud of. The team did an amazing job. The car was really good all weekend. A pole and second, I’m happy with that. Hopefully, we can continue with these results more consistently. We just need to make this a little bit more regular and then, do it again next year and we’ll be looking a lot better in the championship.”

    What a fun race,” Rosenqvist said. “We had to fight really hard for it. The strategy for the race, you had to overtake on track and do good pit stops. I think we nailed both of those. We took the opportunities we had and that slowly moved us forward. Really good fun, good racing as it should be. First podium with the team. Really, really stoked. This weekend hopefully makes [McLaren CEO] Zak [Brown] doubt some things. Still a long way to go in the year, but every race just keeps getting better and better, and this is the trajectory we want to be on, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”

    Rahal, who led six laps, came home in fourth while points leader Ericsson rounded out the top five. Completing the top 10 were Alex Palou, Simon Pagenaud, rookie Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden.

    There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 15 laps.

    With his top-five result, Marcus Ericsson continues to lead the standings by 35 points over Will Power, 37 over Alex Palou, 44 over both Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, 75 over Pato O’Ward and 77 over Scott McLaughlin.

    Results.

    1. Scott Dixon, 40 laps led

    2. Colton Herta, 17 laps led

    3. Felix Rosenqvist, one lap led

    4. Graham Rahal, six laps led

    5. Marcus Ericsson

    6. Alex Palou

    7. Simon Pagenaud

    8. Christian Lundgaard

    9. Scott McLaughlin

    10. Josef Newgarden

    11. Pato O’Ward, three laps led

    12. David Malukas

    13. Rinus VeeKay, 18 laps led

    14. Callum Ilott

    15. Will Power

    16. Romain Grosjean

    17. Helio Castroneves

    18. Devlin DeFrancesco

    19. Jack Harvey

    20. Conor Daly

    21. Jimmie Johnson, 12 laps down

    22. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Contact

    23. Alexander Rossi – OUT, Contact

    24. Dalton Kellett – OUT, Mechanical

    25. Takuma Sato – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is a doubleheader feature at Iowa Speedway, which marks the series return to the circuit following a one-year absence. The first IndyCar doubleheader event at Iowa will occur on Saturday, July 23, at 4 p.m. ET on NBC while the second event will occur on Sunday, July 24, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Marcus Ericsson capitalizes late to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500

    Marcus Ericsson capitalizes late to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500

    On a bright, sunny afternoon at Indianapolis, Indiana, that was dominated by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, teammate Marcus Ericsson capitalized late under the final 15 laps to storm to the lead and fend off the field during a two-lap shootout to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29.

    The 31-year-old Ericsson from Kumla, Sweden, led three times for a total of 13 of the 200-scheduled laps, including the final 11, and had appeared to have the victory sealed with six laps remaining when the caution flew following a single-car wreck involving Ericsson’s teammate Jimmie Johnson. With the event briefly placed in a hiatus before being placed in a two-lap dash to the finish, Ericsson fended off a late challenge from Pato O’Ward to claim his first Indy 500 triumph under caution.

    With the starting lineup determined through two on-track qualifying sessions between May 21-22, Scott Dixon started on pole position after recording the fastest four-lap average qualifying  speed at 234.046 mph, which was more than enough for him to notch his fifth Indy 500 pole. Teammate Alex Palou achieved the second-fastest four-lap average speed at 233.499 mph followed by Rinus VeeKay, who turned in the third-fastest four-lap average speed at 233.385 mph.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Dixon jumped ahead with the lead as the field scrambled behind. Then through the backstretch, Palou made a move on his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate to take the lead. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Palou led the first lap while Dixon and VeeKay battled for the runner-up spot.   

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Palou was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Dixon followed by VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson and Ed Carpenter while Tony Kanaan, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power, and Romain Grosjean were in the top 10.

    Three laps later, Dixon made a move on teammate Palou through the first turn to take the lead for the first time while VeeKay remained in third ahead of Ericsson and Carpenter. By the Lap 10 mark, however, Palou made a move to the outside of teammate Dixon through the frontstretch to reassume the lead.

    By Lap 20, Palou, who had swapped the lead a handful of times with teammate Dixon, was leading ahead of teammate Dixon while VeeKay continued to run in third place. Ericsson also remained in fourth ahead of Ed Carpenter, Kanaan, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci and Romain Grosjean while Will Power, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, David Malukas, Alexander Rossi, Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud, Conor Daly, JR Hildebrand and Scott McLaughlin were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Marco Andretti was in 22nd, Helio Castroneves was in 25th behind Sage Karam, Colton Herta was mired in 27th behind Callum Ilott and Juan Pablo Montoya was in 29th behind Jack Harvey. 

    Ten laps later and with Dixon out in front ahead of teammate Palou, the first round of green flag pit stops commenced as Dixon surrendered the lead to pit along with Conor Daly and Dalton Kellett. Soon after, Palou pitted along with Santino Ferrucci, Jimmie Johnson, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, VeeKay, Grosjean, Devlin DeFrancesco, Stefan Wilson, Ericsson, Carpenter, Kanaan, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Sato, Newgarden, Malukas, Rossi, Andretti, Power, Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey and others. 

    When the green flag pit stops sequence concluded on Lap 37 as Castroneves and Montoya pitted, Palou cycled his way back to the lead followed by VeeKay, Dixon, Ericsson and Carpenter while O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Kanaan and Sato were in the top 10.

    Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when VeeKay, who was pursuing Palou in the runner-up spot, got loose entering Turn 2 and collided against the outside wall, thus ending his event with a wrecked No. 21 Bitcoin Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, some like Power pitted while the rest led by Palou remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 46, Palou led teammates Dixon and Ericsson through the first two turns while the field behind jostled for positions. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Dixon reassumed the lead over Palou while O’Ward was up in third place ahead of Ericsson, Carpenter and Kanaan.

    As the field reached the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, Palou swapped spots with teammate Dixon to reassume the lead while O’Ward, Ericsson, Carpenter, Kanaan, Sato, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci and Malukas occupied the top 10.

    Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the second round of green flag pit stops commenced as Dixon, who was running in the runner-up spot behind teammate Palou, pitted his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda along with Daly and Herta. 

    Shortly after and just as Palou was making a pit stop, the second caution of the event flew when Callum Ilott got loose, spun and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 before he slid down the track and pounded the inside wall as his Indy 500 debut came to an end with a wrecked No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, the majority of the competitors who had yet to pit pitted as O’Ward exited first ahead of Ericsson, Kanaan, Ferrucci, Carpenter and Rosenqvist. During the pit stops, Palou, who was penalized for pitting at the time where pit road was closed, made another pit stop for fuel as he was shuffled towards the rear of the field.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 77, Dixon, who cycled to the lead amid the reshuffling under caution, took off with the lead followed by Daly and O’Ward as the field fanned out through the backstretch.

    Three laps later, Hoosier native Conor Daly overtook Dixon on the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time in his No. 20 BitNile Dallara-Chevrolet as the crowd erupted in a chorus with cheers. During the following lap, however, Dixon reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. Daly, though, was quick to launch himself back to the lead another three laps later.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Dixon was out in front by nearly four-tenths of a second over Daly while O’Ward, Ericsson, Kanaan, Ferrucci, Carpenter, Newgarden, Rosenqvist and Sato were in the top 10. Simon Pagenaud was in 11th ahead of McLaughlin, David Malukas, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi while Sage Karam, Marco Andretti, Grosjean, Rahal and Montoya were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Will Power was in 24th, Palou was mired in 26th ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Jimmie Johnson and Herta was back in 30th.

    Five laps later, another round of green flag pit stops ensued as Daly pitted. Not long after, however, the caution flew when Romain Grosjean snapped sideways and collided against the Turn 2 outside wall, which left Grosjean with a wrecked No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and out in his Indy 500 debut. By then, this marked the third incident of the day, all of which occurred in Turn 2.

    Under caution, the leaders led by Dixon, who was running low on fuel, pitted and Dixon retained the lead by exiting his pit stall with the top spot ahead of O’Ward, Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, Carpenter and Kanaan.

    With 89 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Daly, who cycled his way to the lead while also fending off Dixon for the lead, was quickly overtaken by O’Ward as O’Ward, fresh off a new contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP, made a bold move on the outside lane to rocket to the lead. Not long after, however, Dixon returned the favor by returning to the lead while O’Ward was left to battle against Daly and Ferrucci while Rosenqvist was in fifth.

    With 75 laps remaining, Dixon was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Daly, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci were in the top five. Kanaan stabilized himself in sixth place ahead of Ericsson, Takuma Sato, Carptenter and Pagenaud while Castroneves was in 11th.

    Fifteen laps later, Dixon continued to lead by more than seven-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Daly, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci completed the top 10. Earlier, Colton Herta took his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    Just then, another round of green flag pit stops occurred as Dixon surrendered the lead to pit. Shortly after, Daly pitted along with Dalton Kellett, Rosenqvist, Sage Karam, Devlin DeFrancesco, Power, Jack Harvey, O’Ward, Ferrucci, Montoya, Rahal, Kanaan, Sato, Malukas, Pagenaud, Scott McLaughlin, Christian Lundgaard, Newgarden, Andretti, Ericsson, Castroneves, Rossi, Jimmie Johnson and others.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops sequence complete, O’Ward, who cycled his way back to the lead three laps earlier after Alex Palou pitted, was leading by more than a second over Dixon while Rosenqvist was up in third place. Daly and Ferrucci occupied the top five ahead of Ericsson, Kanaan, Pagenaud, Castroneves and Rossi.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Scott McLaughlin got loose briefly entering Turn 3 before shooting his No. 3 Pennzoil Dallara-Chevrolet dead straight into the outside wall as his event came to an end following the hard wreck.

    With 43 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Dixon overtook O’Ward to reassume the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. O’Ward, however, was able to reassume the top spot with 39 laps remaining. 

    Nearing the final 35 laps of the event, Dixon made another move on O’Ward exiting the frontstretch to reassume the lead. 

    Three laps later, Ed Carpenter made a pit stop under green as Dixon was leading by two-tenths of a second over O’Ward and seven-tenths of a second over Felix Rosenqvist.

    Then with nearly 25 laps remaining, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Rosenqvist pitted his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet followed by Rossi while Dixon continued to lead ahead of O’Ward. Not long after, Dixon surrendered the lead to pit followed by Daly, Ferrucci and Christian Lundgaard. Then, disaster struck for Dixon, whose opportunity to win a second Indy 500 title was spoiled after he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty for speeding while entering pit road. With Dixon out of contention, Rosenqvist emerged as the first competitor who had pitted just as O’Ward pitted.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Tony Kanaan, who was one of several competitors who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Pagenaud, Palou, Castroneves and Newgarden while Power, Andretti, Johnson, Sato and Harvey were in the top 10.

    With 15 laps remaining, Marco Andretti and Jimmie Johnson, both of whom had yet to pit, were leading followed by Ericsson, who overtook Rosenqvist earlier on the track and emerged as the highest-running competitor with fresh tires and enough fuel to the finish. Sato was in fourth followed by O’Ward and Kanaan while Harvey, Rosenqvist, Rossi and Daly were in the top 10.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops complete as Andretti and Johnson pitted, Marcus Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda to the lead followed by O’Ward, who trailed by more than three seconds, and Tony Kanaan, who was charging hard in his No. 1 American Legion Dallara-Honda while trailing by more than four seconds, while Rosenqvist and Sato were in the top five.

    Then with six laps remaining, the caution flew when Jimmie Johnson got loose after hitting the apron in Turn 2, spun and pounded his No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda head-on into the Turn 2 outside wall. The incident, which evaporated Ericsson’s steady advantage over O’Ward and Kanaan, was enough for IndyCar to direct the field to pit road and draw the event into a red flag situation.

    When the red flag was lifted, the field made their way back on the racing surface under a cautious pace. As the race restarted under green with two laps remaining under green, Ericsson retained the lead with a decent start while O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Kanaan battled behind. It did not take, however, for O’Ward to pull away as he issue a challenge on Ericsson for the lead with both seeking their first Indy 500 victory.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Ericsson remained as the leader ahead of O’Ward, who gained a big run through the frontstretch as he tried to pounce alongside Ericsson for the lead and win, but Ericsson managed to pull ahead of O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet through Turn 1 to retain the lead while Kanaan and Rosenqvist trailed behind. 

    Then as Ericsson made his way to Turn 3, the caution flew and the race was official when Sage Karam wrecked in Turn 2. With the race official and concluding under caution, Ericsson made his way back to the finish line to claim the biggest victory of his career.

    With the victory, Ericsson became the newest winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Simon Pagenaud won in 2019 and the 74th overall as he notched his third NTT IndyCar Series career victory in his 52nd series start. The 2022 Indy 500 victory was also the first for Chip Ganassi Racing since 2012 made by Dario Franchitti and the fifth overall as Ericsson joined Kenny Bräck as the only Swedish competitors to win the Indy 500.

    “I couldn’t believe it [when the caution flew],” Ericsson said on NBC. “I felt you can never take anything for granted and obviously, there was still laps to go and I was praying so hard. It was not gonna be another yellow, but I knew there was probably gonna be one. It was hard to sort of refocus, but I knew the car was amazing. The No. 8 crew and Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda has done such an amazing job so I knew the Huski Chocolate car was fast enough, but it was still hard. I had to do everything there and then to keep them behind. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”

    “My family’s here,” Ericsson added. “My mom and dad, my brother, my girlfriend, my manager…they’re all here today. I won. I can’t believe it. I love [oval tracks].”

    Behind, Pato O’Ward, who was aiming to become the first Mexican-born competitor to win the Indy 500, settled in a disappointing second place while Tony Kanaan, who was making his lone IndyCar start of the season, came home in third place.

    “[Ericsson] was gonna put me in the wall if I would’ve gone for it,” O’Ward said. “We were alongside each other. Man, I’m so proud of the team and proud of myself. We did everything to get it done and even getting a massive run on him. We had no wicker, less downforce and still, not enough speed to get by him, even with a massive run. It’s frustrating, it’s bittersweet. I’m so proud, but it definitely stings because I feel like the team and I did everything perfectly to get it done and something that’s out of our control was why we’ve struggled in the end…Next year, we’ll come back with a faster and better race car and go at it again.”

    Rosenqvist and Rossi finished in the top five while Conor Daly, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Palou and Santino Ferrucci completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Montoya finished 11th, Newgarden ended up 13th, Will Power settled in 15th, Ed Carpenter came home in 18th and Scott Dixon, who led a race-high 95 laps, fell back to 21st.

    “It’s just heartbreaking,” Dixon said. “I don’t know. It must’ve been very close. I kind of came into the pit and I locked the rears [tires], kind of locked all four [tires] and I knew it was gonna be close. I think it was like a mile hour over or something. Just frustrating. The car was really good all day. We had really good speed. I think the team did an amazing job on strategy. I just messed up.”

    Marco Andretti ended up in 22nd, three spots ahead of Takuma Sato, while Jimmie Johnson ended up in 28th place following his late accident.

    There were 38 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 31 laps.

    With his first Indianapolis 500 victory, Marcus Ericsson leapt from eighth to first in the championship standings by 13 points over Pato O’Ward, 14 over Alex Palou, 24 over Will Power, 52 over Josef Newgarden and 60 over Scott Dixon.

    Results.

    1. Marcus Ericsson. 13 laps led

    2. Pato O’Ward, 26 laps led

    3. Tony Kanaan, six laps led

    4. Felix Rosenqvist

    5. Alexander Rossi

    6. Conor Daly, seven laps led

    7. Helio Castroneves

    8. Simon Pagenaud

    9. Alex Palou, 47 laps led

    10. Santino Ferrucci

    11. Juan Pablo Montoya

    12. JR Hildebrand

    13. Josef Newgarden

    14. Graham Rahal

    15. Will Power

    16. David Malukas

    17. Kyle Kirkwood

    18. Ed Carpenter

    19. Devlin DeFrancesco

    20. Christian Lundgaard

    21. Scott Dixon, 95 laps led

    22. Marco Andretti, three laps led

    23. Sage Karam, one lap down

    24. Jack Harvey, one lap down

    25. Takuma Sato, one lap down

    26. Dalton Kellett, two laps down

    27. Stefan Wilson, seven laps down

    28. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Contact, two laps led

    29. Scott McLaughlin – OUT, Contact

    30. Colton Herta – OUT, Mechanical

    31. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact

    32. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact

    33. Rinus VeeKay – OUT, Contact, one lap led

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ final event at Belle Isle Street Circuit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in Detroit, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 5, at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Network.

  • Rosenqvist to make 50th IndyCar career start at GMR Grand Prix

    Rosenqvist to make 50th IndyCar career start at GMR Grand Prix

    Competing in his fourth full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Felix Rosenqvist is within reach of a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet will make his 50th career start in the IndyCar Series.

    A native of Värnamo, Sweden, Rosenqvist, the 2015 European Formula 3 champion with an extensive competition and race-winning background across a variety of motorsports regions, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar Series at the start of the 2019 season. By then, Rosenqvist, who was also coming off two strong seasons in Formula E, joined forces with Chip Ganassi Racing to replace Ed Jones and pilot the No. 10 Dallara-Honda. 

    Making his debut in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March, Rosenqvist notched a strong fourth-place result after starting third and leading 31 laps. During the following 11 scheduled events, he achieved his maiden pole at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit in May and a total of seven top-10 results. 

    In late July, Rosenqvist earned his first IndyCar podium result at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after finishing in second place behind teammate Scott Dixon. The following event at Pocono Raceway, however, he was involved in a harrowing opening lap accident after being clipped by Takuma Sato in the Tunnel Turn as his car dragged the catch fence and nearly flipped before coming to rest driver’s right-size up. Despite the wild ride, the driver emerged uninjured. Following the Pocono wreck, Rosenqvist managed to collect a second podium result of the season after finishing second at Portland International Raceway and a fifth-place result in the season-finale Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in September. By finishing sixth in the final standings, Rosenqvist captured the 2019 Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    Remaining at Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2020 season, Rosenqvist rallied from a three-race slump to start the season by achieving his maiden IndyCar career victory in the second of a Road America doubleheader feature in July after overtaking Pato O’Ward with two laps remaining. Despite the win, Rosenqvist finished in the top 10 in four of the remaining 10 events to the season as he settled in 11th place in the final standings.

    Following a two-year stint with Chip Ganassi Racing, Rosenqvist transitioned to Arrow McLaren SP to pilot the No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet, where he replaced Oliver Askew and competed alongside his new teammate, Pato O’Ward. Through the first six events of the season, Rosenqvist struggled with consistency as he finished no higher than 12th, which occurred at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, in April.

    Then during the first of two Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix events at The Raceway at Bell Isle, Michigan, Rosenqvist was involved in another harrowing accident on Lap 24 of 70 after a locked throttle to his car sent the driver head-on into the tire barriers at full speed as the car came to a rest atop the barriers. Despite surviving the incident, Rosenqvist, who was taken to a downtown Detroit hospital for further evaluation, did not participate in the following two IndyCar events at Detroit and Road America as Oliver Askew and Kevin Magnussen took turns filling in the No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Making his return at Mid-Ohio, where he finished 23rd, Rosenqvist went on to finish in the top 10 twice during the final six events of the 2021 IndyCar season, with his best on-track result being sixth place at Portland International Raceway in September. When the season concluded at California’s Long Beach Street Circuit, Rosenqvist settled in 21st place in the final standings.

    Remaining at Arrow McLaren SP for the 2022 season, Rosenqvist notched his second IndyCar career pole position at Texas Motor Speedway in March and has achieved a season-best result of 11th place at the Streets of Long Beach in April. He is currently ranked in 16th place in the drivers’ standings through the first four scheduled events.

    Through 49 previous IndyCar starts, Rosenqvist has achieved one victory, two poles, three podiums, 110 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.2.

    Rosenqvist is scheduled to make his 50th NTT IndyCar Series career start in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, May 14, with coverage to occur 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 Räikkönen 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.

  • Brian Pattie to call 500th Cup career race as crew chief at Martinsville

    Brian Pattie to call 500th Cup career race as crew chief at Martinsville

    A significant milestone achievement is in the making for Brian Pattie, crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s 400-mile Cup event at Martinsville Speedway, Pattie will call his 500th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series. 

    A native of Zephyrhills, Florida, Pattie made his debut as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief at Watkins Glen International in August 1999, where he was paired with Canadian Ron Fellows and the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet team. By then, he was in his fifth season working for NEMCO Motorsports and had made select starts as a crew chief for the organization between the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series. In Pattie’s first event as a Cup crew chief, Fellows started seventh and notched a runner-up result behind Jeff Gordon.

    Pattie spent the following two seasons working as a crew chief for NEMCO Motorsports that was campaigning on a part-time basis in the Xfinity Series and making limited Cup Series starts on the road course events (Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen). Paired with Fellows, Pattie and Fellows made a total of three starts between 2000 and 2001, where Fellows did not finish during his three starts.

    Then in 2002, Pattie reunited with Hendrick Motorsports and worked as a crew chief in a total of 22 events for the team’s No. 25 Chevrolet entry that started the season with driver Jerry Nadeau. Making his first appearance of the season at Darlington Raceway in March, Pattie led Nadeau and the No. 25 team to only one top-10 result, which was an eighth-place at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, through seven events, which concluded at Richmond Raceway in May. Prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Nadeau was replaced by Joe Nemechek due to performance issues. Pattie and Nemechek, however, struggled through the following 15 scheduled events as they finished no higher than 18th place before Pattie was replaced by Peter Sospenzo for the rest of the 2002 season.

    From 2003 to early 2008, Pattie scaled back to the Xfinity Series. During the 2003 season, he took over as the team manager for NEMCO Motorsports before joining Chip Ganassi Racing in mid-2004 and reassuming his role as crew chief for CGR’s “all-star” entry that was shared between Reed Sorenson, Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray. During the following five seasons at CGR, Pattie achieved three victories and tallied his win column to 11, with his previous eight victories occurring at NEMCO.  

    Then in June 2008, Pattie returned to the Cup Series as a crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Dodge team. By then, Montoya had undergone his third crew chief change of the season after posting a single top-five result (second place at Talladega Superspeedway in April) through the first 16 scheduled events. Making his first appearance at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Pattie led Montoya and the No. 42 team to a single top-five result, which was a fourth-place result at Watkins Glen in August, and a 25th-place result in the final driver’s standings.

    Remaining as Montoya’s crew chief in 2009 as Chip Ganassi Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and swapped manufactures from Dodge to Chevrolet, Pattie and Montoya had a breakout season, where they achieved two poles, 12 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. They nearly won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July before Montoya, who led a race-high 116 of 160 laps, was penalized for speeding on pit road during a cycle of green flag pit stops with 35 laps remaining, which relegated him back to 11th place in the final running order. Nonetheless, Pattie led Montoya and the No. 42 Chevrolet team into the 2009 Cup Playoffs and with an opportunity to compete for the title. The duo earned four consecutive top-four results at the start of the Playoffs, but only two top-10 results during the remaining six events as the No. 42 team settled in eighth place in the final standings.

    Through the first 21 events of the 2010 Cup season, Pattie and Montoya achieved three poles, four top-five results and eight top-10 results, but a series of inconsistent results prevented the team from returning to the Playoffs. Nonetheless, the duo scored a breakthrough victory at Watkins Glen in August after Montoya led 74 of 90 laps en route to his second Cup career victory as Pattie achieved his first win in NASCAR’s premier series as a crew chief. Pattie and Montoya went on to record five additional top-10 results through the remaining 14 scheduled events before settling in 17th place in the final standings. By then, Pattie surpassed 100 career events as a Cup Series crew chief.

    Pattie initially commenced the 2011 Cup Series season as Montoya’s crew chief for a third full-time season, where they achieved two poles, two top-five results and six top-10 results during the first 19 scheduled events. Following New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, however, Pattie was replaced by Jim Pohlman for the remainder of the season.

    Then five months later, Pattie was named a full-time Cup Series crew chief for the No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry team piloted by Clint Bowyer for the 2012 season. Following two top-five results and eight top-10 results during the first 15 scheduled events, Pattie and Bowyer achieved their first victory with MWR after Bowyer led a race-high 71 of 112 and fended off the field during a two-lap shootout to emerge victorious at Sonoma Raceway in June. Ten races and an additional five top-10 results later, the duo rallied from a midway spin and survived a late fuel mileage battle to claim a second victory of 2012 at Richmond Raceway in September, which marked the regular season finale before the Playoffs commenced. 

    Pattie, Bowyer and MWR began their charge for the 2012 Cup championship by posting three consecutive top-10 results during the first three Playoff events. After being involved in a last lap multi-car wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in early October, they rallied the following weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway by claiming a third victory of the season after Bowyer fended off Denny Hamlin in another fuel mileage battle to the finish. Four races later, Pattie and Bowyer, both of whom were coming off three consecutive top-six results, were within striking distance of narrowing the deficit of the championship battle. Then at Phoenix Raceway in November, their title hopes evaporated after Bowyer was involved in a late controversial incident with Jeff Gordon, where Gordon retaliated from an earlier contact with Bowyer by wrecking Bowyer head-on into the Turn 3 wall and igniting a scuffle between the two respective crew members in the garage area. Pattie and Bowyer managed to record a runner-up result in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but settled in second place in the final standings and 39 points shy of the title to Brad Keselowski. While they did not emerge as the champions, Pattie and Bowyer collected a total of three victories, 10 top-five results, 23 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.9 in their first campaign with MWR

    The 2013 Cup Series season saw Pattie and Bowyer return to the Playoffs, but only achieve 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results and a seventh-place result in the final standings as they were unable to record a single victory. The consistent season for the duo, however, was overshadowed with their involvement in manipulating the final results at Richmond in September, where Bowyer spun intentionally late in the event and gave teammate Martin Truex Jr. an opportunity to capitalize on a three-lap shootout and make the 2013 Cup Playoffs. A few days after Richmond, MWR was fined $300,000 and docked 50 driver/owner points, which knocked Truex out of the Playoffs while Bowyer, who had secured a Playoff spot prior to Richmond, remained in the postseason. In addition, all three MWR crew chiefs, including Pattie, were placed on probation for the remainder of the season. In the midst of the controversy, Pattie surpassed 200 Cup events as a crew chief.

    Following two consistent seasons at MWR, Pattie and Bowyer struggled in 2014, where they only achieved five top-five results and 15 top-10 results as they did not make the Playoffs and fell back to 19th place in the final standings. Pattie then spent the first 16 events of the 2015 season with Bowyer, where they recorded four top-10 results, before MWR underwent a crew chief swap to the team’s two-car effort that saw Pattie move to the No. 55 Toyota team piloted by David Ragan while Billy Scott took over as Bowyer’s crew chief. Pattie’s best result with Ragan in 20 races was 12th place at Daytona in July. When the 2015 Cup Series season concluded, MWR ceased operations.

    The 2016 Cup Series season marked a new beginning for Pattie, who joined Roush Fenway Racing as a crew chief for the No. 16 Ford Fusion team piloted by veteran Greg Biffle. The new duo, however, struggled with consistency as they managed a single top-five result together throughout the 36-race schedule, which was a fifth-place result at New Hampshire in July. Failing to make the 2016 Cup Playoffs, Biffle settled in 23rd place in the final standings. Despite being absent for four events, two of which stemmed from post-race violations discovered at Charlotte Motor Speedway between late May and early June, Pattie surpassed 300 Cup events as a crew chief.

    The following season, Pattie, who remained at RFR, was paired with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 Ford Fusion team. Pattie and Stenhouse collected four top-10 results through the first nine scheduled events and were coming off a fourth-place effort at Richmond Raceway in April. Then during the following event at Talladega in May, the duo, which started on pole position, emerged victorious after Stenhouse outlasted a late battle with Kyle Busch during an overtime restart to claim his first Cup career victory. The victory snapped a three-year winless drought for Roush Fenway Racing and a five-year winless drought for Pattie.

    Seven races later, Pattie and Stenhouse went to Victory Lane for a second time in 2017 after Stenhouse survived another overtime restart to win at Daytona in July. The pair of superspeedway victories were enough for the No. 17 RFR Ford team to qualify for the 2017 Cup Playoffs. Despite finishing no higher than 15th place during the Playoff’s Round of 16, Pattie and Stenhouse earned valuable stage points to transfer to the Round of 12 by a mere margin. Their 2017 title hopes, however, came to an end during the Round of 12 after finishing no higher than 13th place during the round’s three events. Nonetheless, they capped off their season with two top-10 results during the final four scheduled events and a 13th-place result in the final standings.

    Compared to the 2017 season, the 2018 and 2019 Cup seasons were difficult seasons for both Pattie and Stenhouse as they accumulated a total of four top-five results and eight top-10 results, with their best result in the standings being 18th in 2018. In the midst of the two seasons, Pattie surpassed 400 Cup events as a crew chief. 

    In 2020, Pattie and Stenhouse both departed RFR and joined JTG-Daugherty Racing, where Stenhouse took over the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. They commenced the season on a high note by claiming the pole position for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. During the main event, however, Stenhouse was penalized late for advancing his position below the double yellow line “out of bounds” zone. He was then involved in a late collision while trying to pit under green and relegated back to 20th place in the final running order. Despite posting three top-five results during the following 12 scheduled events, a series of inconsistent results prevented the duo from making the 2020 Cup Playoffs in their first campaign with JTG-Daugherty Racing. Finishing no higher than 12th place during the 10 Playoff events, Pattie and Stenhouse finished in 24th place in the final standings.

    Remaining at JTG-Daugherty Racing in 2021, Pattie and Stenhouse commenced the season with six consecutive top-20 results before notching a strong runner-up result at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. They managed a sixth-place effort at Nashville Superspeedway in June before enduring another inconsistent season as they missed the Playoffs and settled in 22nd place in the final standings.

    Through 499 previous Cup events, Pattie has achieved with six victories, nine poles, 56 top-five results and 127 top-10 results while working with eight different competitors. He and Stenhouse have finished no higher than 10th place during the first seven events of the 2022 season and they are ranked in 28th place in the regular season standings.

    Pattie is scheduled to call his 500th Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 9, with coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jimmie Johnson set for full-time IndyCar campaign in 2022

    Jimmie Johnson set for full-time IndyCar campaign in 2022

    Following his inaugural season in open-wheel competition as a part-time competitor, Jimmie Johnson will be returning to the NTT IndyCar Series as a full-time competitor in Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 48 Dallara-Honda in 2022.

    The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion made an appearance on NBC’s Today Show, where he made the announcement of his racing plans for the upcoming season. In addition, he unveiled the No. 48 Honda that he will be competing in for the new IndyCar season sponsored by Carvana, which returns to sponsor Johnson in all but one of the 17-race schedule. The American Legion will sponsor Johnson at Iowa Speedway in July.

    “I’m really excited about this next chapter of my career and competing in the No. 48 with Carvana for the 2022 season,” Johnson said. “The safety of these cars has come so far, and after I tested the ovals at Texas and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I realized this was a challenge I wanted to undertake. I’m thankful for Chip, Carvana and all who made this possible.”

    “Last season was so incredible for me and I made a lot of progress, so I know I can be competitive on tracks that I have experience on,” Johnson added. “I can’t wait to be part of the Indianapolis 500, it’s a childhood dream come true.”

    Johnson made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar Series this past season following a 19-career in NASCAR highlighted with a record-tying seven championships and 83 career victories, including two Daytona 500s, a record-setting four All-Star Races and four Brickyard 400s. After inking a two-year deal with Chip Ganassi Racing and Carvana to compete in the IndyCar circuit, beginning in 2021, Johnson contested only on the road course events during his first IndyCar season while sharing the No. 48 Honda with two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan, who competed during the oval events.

    During his 12-race schedule to the 2021 IndyCar’s 16-race schedule, Johnson recorded an average-finishing result of 21.1 with his best on-track result being 17th twice during the final two IndyCar events of the 2021 season in September: the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at California’s Long Beach Street Circuit.

    In August, Johnson made his IndyCar debut on an oval circuit at Texas Motor Speedway during a testing session. Two months later, he participated in the Indianapolis 500 Rookie Orientation Program at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he passed the rookie test. The pass means that he will compete in the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May, which will mark his inaugural presence in one of motorsports’ iconic events.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “We are very happy about Jimmie running the whole 2022 season and that Carvana will be on nearly all of those races,” Chip Ganassi, team owner of Chip Ganassi Racing, said. “I am looking forward to seeing Jimmie get back on the track after having a year under his belt. With all the experience he has on ovals from his NASCAR career and adding it to his 2021 experience in an Indy car, we think the INDYCAR ovals will play right into his strength. I can’t wait for the 2022 season to begin.”

    “Chip Ganassi Racing and Jimmie Johnson are ideal partners, and we’re excited to watch Jimmie race the full season in 2022,” Ryan Keeton, chief brand officer of Carvana, added. “Our entire Carvana crew is inspired by Jimmie’s commitment as he’s forged this new path in his racing career. Carvana has always stood for challenging the status quo, and we see that same drive and passion in Jimmie.”

    With his IndyCar plans for 2022 set, Johnson will headline Chip Ganassi Racing’s four-car lineup for the upcoming season that includes former Formula One competitor Marcus Ericsson, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and the reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou. Tony Kanaan, who competed on a part-time basis with Ganassi in 2021, has yet to announce his racing plans for 2022.

    Jimmie Johnson’s first full-time campaign in the NTT IndyCar Series is set to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on February 27, 2022.