Embarking in his third full-time season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Scott McLaughlin is within reach of a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway, the driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet will be making his 50th career start in the IndyCar circuit.
A native of Hamilton, New Zealand, McLaughlin made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in October 2020, which served as the final event of the 2020 campaign. McLaughlin’s IndyCar debut occurred nine months after testing an IndyCar for Team Penske at Sebring International Raceway before turning in his first laps on an oval circuit at Texas Motor Speedway in February. His debut also occurred eight months after Penske initially planned for McLaughlin to make his debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course before the COVID-19 pandemic hindered the plans. Driving the No. 3 Penske Dallara-Chevrolet, McLaughlin started 21st and finished 22nd in his series debut after being involved in a two-car wreck with Rinus VeeKay nearing the halfway mark.
A few days prior to his IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg, McLaughlin was named a full-time IndyCar competitor for Team Penske for the 2021 season. The news occurred as Team Penske also announced its transition from the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship following a six-year run. McLaughlin’s first full-time entrance in the IndyCar Series also occurred as he contended against former Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson for the Rookie-of-the-Year title.
Assuming full control of Penske’s No. 3 Chevrolet, McLaughlin commenced his rookie IndyCar campaign by finishing 14th at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. After finishing 11th during the following scheduled event at St. Petersburg, he then excelled in the first of a Texas Motor Speedway doubleheader feature by finishing a career-best second place behind fellow New Zealander and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. He then notched back-to-back eighth-place results before finishing 20th in his first career start in the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a result, McLaughlin was named the 2021 Indy 500 Rooke of the Year, joining Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves as previous Penske competitors to achieve the award.
As the 2021 season progressed, McLaughlin finished no higher than 12th during the following six scheduled events before notching a strong fourth-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway in August. He then proceeded to finish ninth, 12th and 11th, respectively, in the final three events on the schedule before capping off his first IndyCar Series season in 14th place and with 305 points in the driver’s standings. At the conclusion of the season, McLaughlin was named the 2021 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year.
McLaughlin commenced the 2022 IndyCar season on a high note by claiming his maiden career pole position and race victory at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, in February after leading a race-high 49 of 100-scheduled laps and fending off a late charge from the reigning series champion Alex Palou. He was then beaten in a photo finish over teammate Josef Newgarden on the final lap during the following scheduled event at Texas despite leading a race-high 186 of 248-scheduled laps, but he managed to retain the series points lead for two consecutive weeks. McLaughlin would then lose the points lead after finishing 14th during the following event at the Streets of Long Beach, California. By the time the first eight events on the schedule were complete, however, McLaughlin and the No. 3 Penske team had dropped to ninth place in the standings after posting only two top-10 results during a five-race span between April and June.
McLaughlin then ignited a late charge to the championship battle by collecting his second career victory at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in early July. Despite finishing ninth at the Exhibition Place in Toronto and 22nd in the first of a Iowa Speedway doubleheader feature during the following two scheduled events, he rallied by notching respective finishes of third, fourth, second and third from the second Iowa event in July through World Wide Technology Raceway in August. After scoring his third IndyCar career victory at Portland in September, where he led all but six of 110-scheduled laps, McLaughlin had climbed back up to fifth place in the standings and trailed the points lead by 41 points, which made him championship eligible entering the season-finale Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. During the finale, McLaughlin ended up sixth on the track, which was enough for him to conclude the season in fourth place in the final standings despite falling 50 points shy of winning his first IndyCar title. Overall, McLaughlin capped off his sophomore IndyCar season on a high note by notching a total of three victories, three poles, seven podiums, 433 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.8.
Four days prior to competing for his first IndyCar title, McLaughlin had inked a multi-year contract extension to remain at Team Penske. He commenced this season by finishing 13th at the Streets of St. Petersburg before notching respective results of sixth and 10th at Texas and the Streets of Long Beach, respectively. He then notched his first IndyCar victory of the season and the fourth of his career at Barber Motorsports Park after leading the final 19 laps and prevailing in a late battle against Grosjean. Despite finishing 16th in the GMR Grand Prix and 14th in the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May, McLaughlin has notched nine consecutive finishes inside the top eight, including two runner-up results at Iowa Speedway in July and at Nashville Street Circuit in August. Coming off a fifth-place result at World Wide Technology Raceway, he is currently situated in fifth place in the driver’s standings and trailing the points lead by 140 points with two scheduled events remaining.
Photo by Joe Skibinski (Penske Entertainment).
Through 49 previous starts in the IndyCar Series, McLaughlin has achieved four victories, four poles, 11 podiums, 555 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.0.
McLaughlin is primed to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR Series career start at Portland International Raceway for the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, September 3, during Labor Day weekend at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Scott Dixon reminded everyone that we live in his world. Josef Newgarden’s championship hopes hit the wall. Moreover, how did two tire compounds affect today’s race?
So without further adieu, here are Three Big Stories from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
We all live in Scott Dixon’s world
MADISON, Ill. – AUGUST 27: Pato O’Ward (L), Scott Dixon (C) and David Malukas (R) spray each other with champagne in victory lane, after the NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Aug. 27, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com
“Scott Dixon decided to do a Dixon, today,” Pato O’Ward said, in the deadline room.
“How does he do it?” Dave Furst, IndyCar vice-president of competition and communication, jokingly asked O’Ward.
“Well, he just does it,” O’Ward said. “He’s just Scott Dixon, you know? I feel like that’s what he’s best known for.”
Dixon stretched his stint on Firestone red tires to 60 laps, when everyone else ran roughly 40. A timely caution let him pit for sticker blacks and exit pit road with the race lead.
Now he needed to hold off the field AND save fuel.
“I think probably the hardest part was the restart where we were leading, having to get a pretty high fuel number,” Dixon said. “We weren’t getting it. We were a ways off.
“But I knew we could kind of stress that kind of second through fifth pack, get them into a pretty vulnerable situation. I knew once we caught the back markers we’d be able to save and get beyond the fuel mileage that we needed to. It actually worked out perfectly. We were able to go further and beyond where we needed to.”
Dixon entered Indianapolis, two weeks ago, winless on the 2023 season. Naturally, everyone asked if he’d win, period.
Fast-forward 15 days, the six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion not only has two wins, but he’s reeling in Alex Palou’s once insurmountable points lead.
Now it’s still his teammate’s title to lose, but Dixon won’t make it easy.
Though in the end, Chip Ganassi wins.
“I think what is special is going into the last two races, it can only be a Ganassi driver, which is very cool,” he said. “I know that makes Chip very proud, and the hundred-plus employees that work at that place, as well.”
In the meantime, Dixon celebrates back-to-back wins by downing cans of Stag with Marshall Pruett.
Newgarden, with the slimmest of hopes, needed everything to go right to catch Palou and win his third IndyCar championship. And for much of the first half, it did.
He led 98 laps and even when he fell behind Dixon and his pit strategy, he was in contention.
He turned the wheel like there was no tomorrow, but to no avail.
His chance at sweeping all six oval races vanished.
As did his slim chance at the title.
Effect of different tire compounds
MADISON, Ill. – AUGUST 26: Firestone red tires sit stacked in the garage during the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Aug. 26, 2023, in Madison, Illinois. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com
Sunday marked the first time IndyCar used different tire compounds for an oval race.
And the result?
Well, it varied from driver to driver.
Case in point, the race winner:
“The tire was kind of interesting,” Dixon said. “It actually had a good amount of deg.”
The guy who finished second:
“It brought in some pretty horrendous marbles onto the racetrack, which made the second lane almost impossible to use,” O’Ward said.
Both agreed, however, it needs more falloff.
“I think having an alternate tire, you really kind of want it to – I know Firestone doesn’t want to do it because that’s the product they produce, they produce very good tires – but I think for falloff like we see at Iowa where you go from an 18-second lap all the way to 22s, 23s, you have good cars coming and going, people able to make changes throughout the race,” Dixon said. “I think that’s what they need to bring back here, a little bit more aggressive for next time.”
Now while both series use different tire makers, these sentiments echo similar statements NASCAR Cup Series drivers made in June at Gateway. Denny Hamlin noted drivers could run 50+ laps on the same Goodyear tires and not experience significant dropoff.
So whether it’s a matter of Firestone and Goodyear bringing harder tires or the track surface, that’s for a more engineer-minded person to decipher.
As for the future of INDYCAR, O’Ward likes the idea of different compounds for ovals.
“I just think if they want good racing, we can’t be in single file,” he said. “Then even the lappers can be racing with the leaders.”
In his 28th career start in the NTT IndyCar Series, Christian Lundgaard etched his name as an IndyCar Series race winner after capping off a dominant run from pole position to win for the first time in the Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, July 16.
The 21-year-old Lundgaard from Hedensted, Denmark, commenced the sport’s lone visit north of the border in Canada by notching his second IndyCar career pole on Saturday, July 15, amid mixed weather conditions. Amid a multi-car incident in the opening lap, Lundgaard proceeded to lead the first 18 laps before surrendering the lead to pit amid alternate strategies ensuing within the field. Through more on-track chaos and mixed strategy, Lundgaard, who briefly led from Laps 37 to 48, assumed the lead for good on Lap 62 after Scott Dixon surrendered the lead to pit under green. For the remainder of the event, Lundgaard methodically stretched his advantage while navigating his way around the 11-turn circuit and beat runner-up and championship points leader Alex Palou by more than 11 seconds to achieve his first checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 15, Christian Lundgaard captured his second IndyCar career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 100.217 mph in 1:04.1567. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 99.716 mph in 1:04.4790.
When the green flag and the race commenced, Lundgaard rocketed ahead with the lead while McLaughlin veered right to defend the runner-up spot ahead of Pato O’Ward and his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet through Princess Blvd. and entering the first turn. The field then fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns as Lundgaard continued to lead.
Then as the field entered Lake Shore Blvd., the first caution of the event flew when Tom Blomqvist, the reigning two-time Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona winner who was making his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing and as an interim competitor for the injured Simon Pagenaud, got pushed and squeezed into the wall amid a three-wide battle involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Harvey. With Blomqvist hitting the wall, Harvey and Hunter-Reay were also involved as they squeezed into one another and veered sideways and into the wall, thus igniting a stack up towards the rear of the field as Alexander Rossi, Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Rob, Benjamin Pedersen and Graham Rahal were also involved.
Following an extensive caution period, the race resumed under green flag conditions on the ninth lap. At the start, Lundgaard retained the top spot ahead of McLaughlin as the field navigated its way through Princess Blvd. before navigating through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. The field proceeded to navigate its way through Turns 3 and 4 before entering Ontario Dr. before navigating back on Princess Blvd. and Manitoba Dr. Following another series of turns from Turns 5 to 11 and back to the frontstretch, Lundgaard continued to lead and he would retain the top spot through the Lap 10 mark while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon were battling in the top five.
Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Lundgaard was leading by more than three seconds over McLaughlin while O’Ward retained third. Behind, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ericsson and Dixon were running in the top five while Kyle Kirkwood, Flex Rosenqvist, Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta were running in the top 10. Behind, Marcus Armstrong was in 11th while Romain Grosjean, Alex Palou, Rinus VeeKay and Helio Castroneves were mired in the top 15.
A lap later, Armstrong, who was battling Grosjean for 11th, pitted under green. Rosenqvist and David Malukas would pit during the following lap under green as Lundgaard was leading by more than four seconds over McLaughlin. More pit stops would then ensue the proceeding lap as Kirkwood and Newgarden pitted.
Then on Lap 19, McLaughlin cycled into the lead as Lundgaard pitted under green. Once Lundgaard returned to the track, he was mired in 12th in between Juncos Racing’s Callum Ilott and Agustin Canapino while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Ericsson, Dixon and Power were running in the top five. O’Ward would then surrender third place to pit at the Lap 20 mark, where he would blend back on the track in 14th.
At the Lap 25 mark, McLaughlin was leading by more than two seconds over Ericsson while Dixon, Power and Herta were running in the top five. With Grosjean, Palou, VeeKay, Castroneves and Lundgaard running in the top 10, O’Ward was still mired in 14th while Newgarden was back in 17th in between Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong.
Five laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than four seconds over Ericsson while third-place Dixon trailed by more than five seconds. With Power and Herta running in the top five, Palou navigated his way around Grosjean for sixth while Lundgaard was up in eighth ahead of VeeKay and Castroneves. Another two laps later, Grosjean pitted from the top 10 under green while McLaughin retained the lead by more than five seconds over Ericsson. Herta would also pit from the top five followed by Augustin Canapino.
Then on Lap 30, McLaughlin navigated his No. 3 Gallagher Dallara-Chevrolet onto pit road for his first pit service of the day as Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda into the lead. Ericsson would then pit during the following lap followed by Castroneves and Callum Ilott. With Dixon cycling his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the lead, McLaughlin was scored in fifth behind Lundgaard. On Lap 37, however, the top-three competitors that included Dixon, Power and Palou pitted under green as Lundgaard cycled back into the lead. Following their pit stops, Power managed to muscle ahead of Dixon and Palou on the track and within the top 10 while Ericsson was in fifth following his pit service.
Then as the event was approaching its halfway mark on Lap 41, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean lost control of the steering of his No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and veered straight into the wall just past Turn 10 as his strong run came to an end. At the moment of caution, Lundgaard was leading ahead of McLaughlin, O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood and Ericsson while Newgarden, Power, Dixon, Palou and Rosenqvist were in the top 10.
During the caution period, some names including Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Palou, Herta, Malukas, Graham Rahal and Callum Ilott pitted while the rest led by Lundgaard remained on the track. Not long after and prior to a restart on Lap 46, the event quickly returned under a caution period when Kirkwood ran into the rear of Castroneves’ No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda and sent him spinning in Turn 11, thus ending his race, as Palou sustained damage to his front wing after hitting the wall while trying to avoid Castroneves. Despite the contact, Palou continued to run on the track despite concerns of his front wing being damaged.
Amid the extensive caution period, a majority of the field led by Lundgaard pitted for fresh tires and fuel while some including McLaughlin, Dixon, VeeKay, Kirkwood, Herta and Palou remained on the track with alternate strategies ensuing.
When the race restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, McLaughlin jumped ahead of Dixon to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. With the field fanning out, a series of battles ensued as Lundgaard and O’Ward were trying to navigate their way towards the front from the top 10. Amid the battles, Kirkwood, who was running within the top five, pitted after being assessed a stop-and-go penalty from the contact with Castroneves while VeeKay, Palou and Herta were in the top five.
With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over fellow Kiwi competitor Dixon while VeeKay and Palou were in the top four. Behind, Lundgaard moved up to fifth and was trailing the lead by more than seven seconds while Herta, O’Ward, Power, Ericsson and Newgarden were in the top 10.
Four laps later, VeeKay pitted from third place, which allowed Palou, Lundgaard and Herta to move up one spots respectively into the top five while McLaughlin was leading by more than a second over Dixon. McLaughlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 25 laps remaining as Dixon cycled into the lead followed by teammate Palou and Lundgaard.
Then with 24 laps remaining, Lundgaard, who pulled a bold overtake on Palou through Turns 3 and 4 to take second place, cycled back into the lead after Dixon pitted under green. In the ensuing laps, Power overtook O’Ward for fourth while Palou, who continued to proceed at full pace despite his damaged front wing, retained second ahead of Colton Herta.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Lundgaard was leading by more than two seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and O’Ward were running in the top five. With Ericsson in sixth, Newgarden, Marcus Armstrong, Rosenqvist and Agustin Canapino were in the top 10 while Dixon and McLaughlin were mired back in 14th and 15th, respectively.
With 10 laps remaining, Lundgaard retained the lead by nearly seven seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and Ericsson were scored in the top five. In the process, Newgarden, Armstrong, O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Dixon were in the top 10. By then, David Malukas retired four laps earlier after making contact with the wall and damaging his suspension.
Five laps later, Lundgaard extended his advantage to more than nine seconds over Palou, who was being pressured by Herta amid his front wing damage as Power and Ericsson started to close in on the battle.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Lundgaard remained as the leader by more than 10 seconds over Palou, who continued to run strong on the track amid his front wing damage in front of Herta. By then, Power and Ericsson both pitted after coming up short on fuel, which allowed Newgarden and Dixon to move into the top five. With no competition lurking behind him, Lundgaard, driving the No. 45 Vivid Clear Rx Dallara-Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was able to navigate his way around the 11-turn circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first career checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.
With the victory, Lundgaard, who is currently campaigning in his second full-time season in the IndyCar circuit and whose previous best result was second place that occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last August, became the first competitor to achieve a first IndyCar race victory since Kyle Kirkwood won at the Streets of Long Beach, California, this past April. He also recorded the first victory for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing since the team last won the 2020 Indianapolis 500 with Takuma Sato. Lundgaard also joined Adrian Fernandez and the late Justin Wilson as competitors to achieve a first IndyCar victory at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada.
With the victory, Lundgaard, who celebrated his first IndyCar win with his friend, Victor, vowed to shave his mustache he grew during the offseason amid the promise that he would do so once he would win an IndyCar race.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I’m pretty drained from energy right now,” Lundgaard, who led a race-high 54 of 85 laps, said on Peacock. “The Hy-Vee VIVID car has just been fast all weekend. I said it before the race [that] we had a car that was fast enough to win. We pulled it off and I think we did by 10 seconds. This team, they do deserve this because if we look at where we were early this season and even last year at this point, we were nowhere near this, so I’m just extremely happy for everybody right now. Everything [the owners] are doing for this team, we’re moving forward.”
“[This win]’s huge for us,” Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, added. “Any win’s big. We were knocking on the door at Mid-Ohio with Graham’s [Rahal] qualifying run and Christian’s for that matter. This weekend, it wasn’t easy. We didn’t start out really super great, but we kept working at it. Christian was hooked up. I think he just was kind of like on a mission this weekend. You saw that on that race. He just drove away from everybody. The crew did a great job. That strategy in the No. 45 pit was the right strategy and Christian just didn’t put a foot wrong. A great weekend for us. “
While Lundgaard celebrated a first victory, Palou, who started the lowest of this season in 15th, was left relieved on pit road after having enough power to nurse his No. 10 Journie Rewards Dallara-Honda with the damaged front wing home in the runner-up spot, one spot shy of achieving four consecutive IndyCar victories following recent victories in Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio, while Colton Herta achieved his first podium result of the season by finishing third just as he ran out of fuel.
“We knew it was going to be an eventful race,” Palou said. “I had a lot of ups and downs. We had a really fast car. I don’t know how we made it with this wing. The car was still handling OK, and then we just had to save a ton of fuel, a ton of tires. But we made it. Glad we finished P2 today. A win could have been possible, but I did a bad qualifying yesterday. As long as we have fast cars like we’ve been doing, we’re going to be OK. The guys did an amazing strategy call. It was tough to save that much fuel, but they just put me on that position. Kudos to the No. 10 car.”
Dixon, who won last year’s IndyCar event at Toronto, came home in fourth while Newgarden settled in fifth. McLaughlin, Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal and Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Ericsson and Power ended up 11th and 14th, respectively, while Kirkwood ended up 15th.
There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 16 laps. In total, 15 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 10th event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 117 points over teammate Scott Dixon, 126 over Josef Newgarden, 142 over teammate Marcus Ericsson and 143 over Pato O’Ward.
Results.
1. Christian Lundgaard, 54 laps led
2. Alex Palou
3. Colton Herta
4. Scott Dixon, two laps led
5. Josef Newgarden
6. Scott McLaughlin, 28 laps led
7. Marcus Armstrong
8. Pato O’Ward
9. Graham Rahal
10. Felix Rosenqvist
11. Marcus Ericsson
12. Agustin Canapino
13. Rinus VeeKay
14. Will Power
15. Kyle Kirkwood
16. Alexander Rossi
17. Santino Ferrucci
18. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact
19. Sting Ray Robb, three laps down
20. David Malukas – OUT, Contact
21. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Contact
22. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact
23. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Mechanical
24. Jack Harvey – OUT, Contact
25. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact
26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact
27. Benjamin Pedersen – OUT, Contact
Next on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ doubleheader weekend feature at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The first event of the doubleheader weekend feature, Hy-Vee Homefront 250, is set to occur next Saturday, July 22, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC while the second event, Hy-Vee One Step 250, will follow suit next Sunday, July 23, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
After spending a majority of the event trailing dominant pole-sitter Colton Herta, Alex Palou executed a late pit strategy to his advantage and emerge ahead of Herta and the competition before cruising to a late victory in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 18.
The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain, led three times for 10 of 55-scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place and spent the bulk of the event battling within the top five amid mixed pit strategies and full-contact racing. The key moment for Palou occurred with 15 laps remaining when Herta pitted under green for fresh black tires. Instead of pitting with Herta, Palou opted to wait during the proceeding lap to pit for fresh tires. By the time he returned to the track, he was methodically gaining ground on Herta, who was in fuel conservation mode. Then with seven laps remaining, Palou executed his winning pass on Herta entering Turn 1. From there, the Spaniard was able to pull away from the field and proceed to claim his third IndyCar Series victory of the 2023 campaign.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 17, Colton Herta notched his first IndyCar pole of the season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 144.223 mph in one minute, 40.1945 seconds. Joining Herta on the front row was Pato O’Ward, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 143.979 mph in one minute, 40.3643 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a fanned-out restart, Herta rocketed ahead with the lead entering the first turn as Alex Palou made an early move on Pato O’Ward for second. Then in Turn 1, early trouble struck for Kyle Kirkwood after he ran into the rear of O’Ward and spun in Turn 1, which sent O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet briefly off the course while Kirkwood’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda was stalled backwards.
With the event remaining under green flag conditions, the field continued to bump and jostle for positions throughout the 14-turn circuit. At the front of the pack, Herta was leading ahead of the new runner-up competitor Alex Palou followed by teammate Marcus Armstrong, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi while O’Ward was back in seventh behind Christian Lundgaard. As the field was making its approach back to the start/finish line, the first caution of the event flew for Kirkwood, who was still stalled in Turn 1 as the on-track safety workers came to his assistance before he was eventually able to re-fire his car and drive away.
During the event’s first caution period, a majority of the field running within the bottom half of the pack that included Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist, Romain Grosjean, Scott Dixon and Will Power made a pit stop while the rest led by Herta remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on the third lap, Herta maintained the lead ahead of Palou and Armstrong, with Armstrong making an early attempt in battling teammate Palou for second, but the latter prevailed in retaining the spot as Newgarden was in fourth. Behind, Lundgaard was in fifth while Rossi settled in sixth in front of teammate O’Ward, who would be assessed a penalty and forced to yield two spots for blocking during the start of the event. Amid more bumps and jostling for spots in the middle of the pack, the field led by Herta managed to navigate its way through the 14-turn circuit under green for the following lap.
Through the first five scheduled laps, Herta was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Palou while Armstrong trailed in third place by more than a second. Meanwhile, Newgarden, who forced Lundgaard off the course in Turn 5 during the previous lap, retained fourth ahead of Rossi while Lundgaard slipped back to sixth. Behind, Devlin DeFrancesco was in seventh followed by Santino Ferrucci, O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson while Scott McLaughlin, Callum Ilott, Rinus VeeKay, Felix Rosenqvist and Graham Rahal rounded out the top 15.
At the Lap 10 mark, Herta extended his advantage to more than eight-tenths of a second over Palou while third-place Armstrong trailed by more than a second in his No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. Newgarden and Rossi continued to run in the top five while Lundgaard, O’Ward, DeFrancesco, Ericsson and McLaughlin, who made a bold overtake on Ferrucci through the frontstretch, were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist, who received a bump from Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet in Turn 3 two laps earlier, had plummeted to last place in 27th after battling for a top-15 spot and while trying to carve his way back to the front on his fresh tires while pitting during the first caution period.
Two laps later, a host of competitors led by the race leader Herta pitted under green while Rosenqvist cycled into the lead. Shortly after, however, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean, who snapped sideways and spun his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda off the course in Turn 3 on Lap 11, had stalled his car on the gravel trap and needed the on-track safety crew to tow his car back onto the course and re-fired. Amid the pit stops, more trouble struck for Kirkwood, who stalled his car while trying to enter his pit box, but had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by Rinus VeeKay, who was exiting his pit stall. In addition, Armstrong was assessed a one-spot penalty for an unsafe release after he nearly hit Simon Pagenaud, who was trying to enter his pit stall at the same time when Armstrong was exiting his pit stall. VeeKay would also be assessed the same penalty as Armstrong for nearly colliding into Kirkwood.
Just as the event was ready to restart under green on Lap 15, the caution quickly returned when Jack Harvey, who was running in the middle of the pack went off the course and dead straight towards the tire barriers in Turn 14.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 19, Herta maintained the lead ahead of Palou and Newgarden while Armstrong was intimidating Rossi for fourth place. With the field behind bumping and jostling for spots, including some going off the course, Herta maintained his advantage over Palou and Newgarden while Armstrong trailed in fourth by more than two seconds.
Then four laps later, Palou, who came under pressure from Newgarden, slipped and went off the course in Turn 5. This allowed Newgarden to move his No. 2 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet into second place as Rossi, Armstrong and O’Ward joined the battle. Meanwhile, Herta stabilized his advantage to more than a second while Newgarden maintained second place over Palou. Behind and during the following lap, Rossi and Armstrong continued to fight fiercely for fourth as O’Ward tried to close in. Then in Turn 5, O’Ward gained a strong run on Armstrong in Turn 5 and survived a side-by-side battle on Armstrong for a top-five spot in Turn 6 as O’Ward overtook Armstrong while Lundgaard tried to challenge Armstrong for sixth.
Then during the event’s third caution period on Lap 25 for David Malukas, who pulled his car off the course in Turn 8 and became the first retiree of the event, a majority of the field led by Herta pitted while Armstrong remained on the circuit to inherit the lead. With the event surpassing its halfway mark under the caution period, Herta now found himself strapped behind Palou and Newgarden, both of whom managed to exit pit road ahead of Herta, while Armstrong was the leader.
With the race restarting under green on Lap 28, Armstrong maintained the lead ahead of Will Power, both of whom were off sequence amid pit strategy, while Newgarden was overtaken by Herta and O’Ward entering the first turn. As the field continued to fan out and jostle for late spots, Power, who was running in second and trying to fend off Grosjean, who was a lap down, briefly touched the gravel and went off the course in Turn 6 as Grosjean overtook him. Behind him, Palou maintained third ahead of Herta and a hard-charging O’Ward while Newgarden fell to sixth.
During the following lap, Herta overtook Palou for third place in Turn 6 as O’Ward closed in on Palou for a top-five spot. As the battles behind continue to ignite, Armstrong maintained the lead ahead of Power, who was trailing by more than two seconds and trying to navigate around the lapped competitor of Grosjean.
Then with 24 laps remaining, Armstrong surrendered the lead to pit as Power cycled into the lead. Herta, Palou, O’Ward and Newgarden each moved up spots within the top five while Dixon, Rossi, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Ericsson were in the top 10. Herta would then manage to reassume the lead two laps later as Power pitted.
With 20 laps remaining, Herta was leading by six-tenths of a second over Palou while third-place O’Ward trailed by more than a second. Newgarden and Dixon were scored in the top five while Rossi, Ericsson, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Lundgaard were in the top 10. Behind, Rahal was in 11th ahead of Kyle Kirkwood while VeeKay, Pagenaud, Ilott, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Benjamin Pedersen, Devlin DeFrancesco and Agustin Canapino were in the top 20.
Then with 15 laps remaining, Herta surrendered the lead to pit under green. Lundgaard, Rahal, Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay would also pit while Palou inherited the lead. Palou would then pit during the following lap under green as he was pursued by O’Ward, Newgarden, Dixon, Ericsson, Rossi, McLaughlin, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Castroneves, Ilott, Pedersen, Canapino and Ferrucci. Amid the pit stops, Herta managed to overtake all of them on the track, but he found himself mired by Will Power as Power returned to the lead.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Power, who last pitted on Lap 33 and has yet to make another pit stop amid a differing pit strategy, was leading by more than 10 seconds over Herta while Palou, Newgarden and O’Ward trailed under 15 seconds.
Then a lap later, Power pitted under green. This enabled Herta, who was trying to conserve fuel to finish, to reassume the lead, but he was only three-tenths of a second ahead over Palou, who was trying to close in while third-place Newgarden trailed by nearly three seconds. Palou would then trail the race leader Herta by four-tenths of a second during the following lap as Palou continued to put pressure on Herta for the lead.
Then with seven laps remaining, Palou, who was within a tenth of a second trailing Herta, overtook Herta’s No. 26 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda with a bold move to the outside lane entering Turn 1 as he assumed the lead in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. As Palou tried to pull away with the lead, Herta maintained second in spite of being under fuel conservation mode as Newgarden closed in for the runner-up spot.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Palou was leading by more than two seconds over Newgarden, who overtook Herta for the runner-up spot. O’Ward would then overtake Herta for the final podium spot along with Dixon as Herta continued to run under a cautious pace on the track while trying to save fuel for the finish.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Palou remained as the leader by more than five seconds over Newgarden and more than seven seconds over O’Ward. With close competition lurking behind him, Palou, who wrecked a day ago during the event’s practice session but rallied with a repaired car, was able to cycle his way around the 14-turn circuit smoothly for a final time as he returned to the finish line and claimed his third checkered flag of the 2023 season.
With the victory, Palou notched his seventh career victory in the NTT IndyCar Series and his second at Road America after winning his first in 2021. He also collected his third victory of the season and in recent weeks following his recent victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May and at the Streets of Detroit two weeks earlier. Palou also recorded the fourth IndyCar victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing and the fifth for Honda.
The victory also extended Palou’s hot streak of this season, where he has finished no lower than eighth through the first eight-scheduled events.
“It’s been an amazing weekend, honestly,” Palou said on USA Network. “We started with a lot of speed. Big mistake by my part in practice too, but it was amazing. [The team] had only an hour and a half to rebuild all the car. We went back on track and it was even better than practice too. Super happy. They gave me the pit stop that gave us the win as well, so [I] cannot thank them enough. It was an amazing day for the No. 10 American Legion Ganassi car and we’re gonna keep on going. We’re gonna try to keep it rolling. We have an amazing team behind.”
“[Herta] was really quick on the first couple of laps on the blacks [tires],” Palou added. “I thought I was not gonna catch him, but anyway, I knew while our tires were a bit slower on getting up to temperature, we kept on pushing, kept on putting some pressure and we finally made it happen.”
Newgarden, this year’s Indianapolis 500 champion who won at Road America a year ago, finished in second place as he trailed Palou by more than four seconds while O’Ward, who is still pursuing his first victory of the season, fended off a late charge from Dixon to round out the podium in third place and claim his fourth podium result of the season.
Dixon came home fourth after starting 23rd while Herta concluded his dominant run in a disappointing fifth place after leading a race-high 33 laps.
“It was unclear to me like how the race was gonna play out at that point,” Herta said. “It was hard to say what was gonna happen with fuel numbers. I knew it was about 15 laps to go and that’s usually pretty reasonable fuel number. It ended up being quite a bit more. It’s frustrating. We had the best car. We were cruising the whole time. Like I had so much more in it and we just never really got to show it because we were always saving fuel, trying to go that lap later. That’s a killer. We still got a fifth out of it, which is nice. Not what we want, though, so for that reason, it’s pretty frustrating.”
Ericsson, Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Rossi finished in the top 10.
There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 10 laps. In total, 23 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the eighth event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 74 points over Marcus Ericsson, 81 over Josef Newgarden, 98 over both Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon and 125 over Scott McLaughlin.
Results.
1. Alex Palou, 10 laps led
2. Josef Newgarden
3. Pato O’Ward
4. Scott Dixon
5. Colton Herta, 33 laps led
6. Marcus Ericsson
7. Christian Lundgaard
8. Scott McLaughlin
9. Kyle Kirkwood
10. Alexander Rossi
11. Graham Rahal
12. Rinus VeeKay
13. Will Power, seven laps led
14. Simon Pagenaud
15. Helio Castroneves
16. Santino Ferrucci
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay
18. Callum Ilott
19. Agustin Canapino
20. Felix Rosenqvist
21. Benjamin Pedersen
22. Sting Ray Robb
23. Devlin DeFrancesco
24. Marcus Armstrong, one lap down, five laps led
25. Romain Grosjean, one lap down
26. Jack Harvey, one lap down
27. David Malukas – OUT, Off Course
The next event on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The event is slated to occur on July 2 at 1:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
“I am into finance,” he said. “I think it’s a great career path. It’s probably something I would be doing if I wasn’t driving cars. It’s kind of as simple as that. I won’t bore everybody, but I love that world. I think it’s super fun.”
As Newgarden says this, the video screens both in the deadline room and around the track play a highlight package of his Indianapolis 500 victory.
With one lap to go, Newgarden overtook Marcus Ericsson on the backstretch, using the same move Ericsson used to win in 2022.
And Newgarden knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate.
Go up in the stands.
INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 28: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Shell Chevrolet, celebrates with the fans in the stands, after winning the NTT IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 28, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment
He parked his car on the yard of bricks, exited his Team Penske Chevrolet and hopped through a crossover gate to celebrate with the fans.
“Yeah, I knew exactly where the gap was,” he said. “I’d been over there many, many years. I’ve seen that photo, whole spot, and really it’s just like an access point that you can crawl under. It looks like it’s closed but there’s a way to get through. I knew exactly where I was going at the end of this race.”
He wanted to go higher up, but thought better of it. So he hugged a couple of people and crawled back through the gap.
“But it was really cool,” he said. “You just can’t beat the Hoosier hospitality, the energy that people bring here. It is second to none when it comes to a sporting event.”
Meanwhile, his crew channels Helio Castroneves and hangs from the catch fence.
Visibly crying as his crew wheeled his car to victory lane, he climbed out and followed through the traditional victory lane celebrations, from the wreath to drinking the milk.
“The milk, I felt good about it,” he said. “It tasted so good. I love milk. I drink a lot of milk. So for me, the Indy 500 is kind of the greatest thing ever. Other people might not like to get milk after. That’s the choice I would have made, too. I love Louis Meyer. I love that he threw that up as a tradition. I’m a big milk guy.”
Compare this to his 2016 post-race interview, after he finished third. He was dejected, frustrated, and in despair.
Now, the newest Indianapolis 500 champion talked about how fascinated he is with finances.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I asked him what fascinates him about finances.
When Newgarden’s press conference wrapped up, he put the wreath back on and turned his focus to the rest of the season. As well as getting Roger Penske his 20th Indy 500 victory, next season.
“I put my hand on his shoulder in Victory Lane and said, ‘Now we got to get 20,’” he said. “He was the first one to go, ‘Absolutely.’ He didn’t even take a breath. He was ahead of me in the thought process, as you know.
“He’s eyes forward. It will be important. We need to come back. There’s still areas we can be better, so we’ll go and analyze after this weekend and see where we can improve. But we’ll come back ready to fight and get No. 20 for him.”
INDIANAPOLIS — Graham Rahal entered the North Chataeu Pavillion at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He sat at the interview table in the back of the room and kicked out his feet until the toes of his shoes poked out of the cloth.
Virtually every reporter gathered around and craned their necks to hear every word he’d say. And why wouldn’t they? After all, just four days earlier, teammate Jack Harvey bumped him out of the Indianapolis 500.
But then Rahal received a call.
“I will say that there was a part of me that thought it wasn’t right, and that I was just going to accept that I wasn’t racing and I was going to move forward and move into kind of a different phase and my mental process and the way the rest of my week was going to be,” he said.
One day after Harvey bumped out Rahal, Stefan Wilson pounded the wall in Turn 1 and injured his back. And Rahal was the first choice of Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team owner, Dennie Reinbold.
Instead of watching at home, Rahal finds himself in a “very very different” situation.
Those differences range from a different manufacturer to the fit of gloves.
“Obviously, the engine is different,” he said. “The brakes feel different, like the way the button, everything feels different. The way the end, the buttons feel, too, thumbs to the gloves is different. There’s a lot that goes into that.”
He asked questions about input to the car but felt it wasn’t his place to push the issue. He feels he’s here to “fill out a big void for the weekend.”
Moreover, for one race, he transitions from helping his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates to racing against them. He is, however, excited for the opportunity.
“I know they’ve had very strong cars. But the mentality is different. My job is turned from maybe a team leader to a guy that wants to go win this thing again. Not that it ever went away, but clearly, I have a chance now that I didn’t, Monday afternoon.”
If Sunday’s his day, the final practice Friday didn’t reflect it. He clocked in 30th, over half a second back of Takuma Sato.
INDIANAPOLIS — With eight laps to go, it was Alex Palou’s race to lose.
The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion led 52 of the 85 laps to win the GMR Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We knew we had a fast car honestly since practice, since we were all off the trailers,” he said. “The car was really, really good. I was comfortable. We missed a little bit on pole, yesterday, but we knew we had a fast car.”
It’s his fifth career IndyCar victory and first since the season-finale at Laguna Seca in 2022.
“Yeah, every win is special, honestly,” he said. “We’ve been close here. We had little bit of bad luck. I know in ’21 we had a failure when we were going for the fight for the win at the end. It was the first race that everything came perfectly, the strategy, the tires, the speed of the car, myself obviously.
“Super proud. It’s a special place. You can feel that in the car just with the fans that we had already since practice one. There’s something about this place obviously. Even if it’s not the big one, it’s still special.
“So super proud of the first win of the season, first win with the American Legion, as well, and first win at the IMS. Couldn’t be better.”
Pato O’Ward had fresh red tires, but couldn’t overcome a 10-second gap before he reached his tires’ crossover lap and finished runner-up, 16 seconds behind.
“Super stoked for the team,” he said. “We put three cars in the top-five. Fricking hard to do in this series with how competitive it is. Just stoked for everybody in the organization, for our 5 crew.
“We made our strategy really work, right? I just think today Palou and Ganassi were very, very strong, so we couldn’t quite get them there in the end.
“Historically this hasn’t been the best of tracks for us. So this is awesome to see just the massive step forward we’ve taken here in race pace. Super happy to see that.
“Rolling with some great momentum into our Super Bowl.”
Alexander Rossi rounded out the podium, after he overtook Christian Lundgaard into Turn 7 with 10 to go.
“Like Pato said, to get three cars in the top-five is near on impossible these days,” he said. “Arrow McLaren has done a phenomenal job all year. You can’t talk about how challenging it is to add a car in the off-season. They’ve done it with relative apparent ease. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.
“Really proud to get the first podium for the team, the first one as part of Team Chevy. It was a good day. We’ve had a really strong pace on Sundays, we just haven’t gotten the results that we feel like we deserve. We’re missing a little bit on Saturdays.
“The pieces are coming together. I’ve got an awesome team, awesome teammates around me.”
Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top-five.
Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta and Graham Rahal rounded out the top-10.
Race summary
INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 13: Alex Palou races Felix Rosenqvist, during the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Indy Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Simon Scoggins/SpeedwayMedia.com
Lundgaard led the field to green at 3:46 p.m. ET. He and Palou touched in Turn 1, but Palou overtook him in Turn 13 to lead the first lap.
“We knew starting on the alternates we needed to go hard and try and get the lead as fast as possible,” Palou said. “I think the alternates had two, three laps that they were a lot better. Afterwards, you kind of got stuck behind.
“I tried in Turn 1. He went really aggressive. It was right, it was perfect what he did, but yeah, I wanted it to be something easier (smiling). We were able to get it on the last corner. That was good.”
Rahal contacted someone also, and dropped through the field. On Lap 7, Will Power drove Kyle Kirkwood wide into Turn 1. Entering Turn 2, Kirkwood turned him. IndyCar gave him an avoidable contact penalty and he dropped seven spots, behind Power.
By Lap 15, Palou hit the crossover point on his red tires and Lundgaard cut the gap by over a second in three laps. Palou pitted from the lead on Lap 18. Lundgaard stayed out for two laps, before changing over to reds on Lap 20. Palou cycled ahead, but Lundgaard ran him down and overtook him down Hulman Boulevard on Lap 24.
Meanwhile, Rahal inherited the lead, thanks to multiple stops from his Lap 1 hit. By Lap 30, however, Lundgaard chewed half a second a lap into his lead, and Rahal pitted from the lead on Lap 31.
Lundgaard’s reds hit their crossover lap on Lap 37. After that, Palou on blacks ate into his lead and overtook him into Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 42. Before he crossed the start/finish line, Lundgaard pitted from second for used reds. Meanwhile, Palou followed suit on Lap 43, but took sticker blacks.
Lundgaard pitted from third on Lap 60 for sticker blacks. Palou responded a lap later, but took used blacks. He cycled out ahead of Lundgaard, on new blacks, and O’Ward, on fresh reds.
This set up the run to the finish.
What else happened
Entering Turn 7 on Lap 2, Romain Grosjean clipped David Malukas, who spun into Sting Ray Robb.
That was the only caution of the race.
Nuts and bolts
The race lasted one hour, 47 minutes and 57 seconds, at an average speed of 115.234 mph. There were 12 lead changes among eight different drivers, and one caution for three laps.
Palou kicks off the Month of May with a six-point lead over O’Ward.
INDIANAPOLIS — It’s that time of year, again. The IndyCar teams leave their shops on Main Street and pull into the racing capital of the world for the centerpiece of the NTT IndyCar Series calendar, the Indianapolis 500. Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO, Mark Miles, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway track president, Doug Boles, kicked off the Month of May at the Brickyard, Saturday, by unveiling an environmental initiative to make the 2023 edition “the most sustainable on record.”
For all that IndyCar and IMS changed for 2023, however, one tradition lingers: The Indy 500 local blackout.
Why the blackout?
INDIANAPOLIS – MAY 13: (l to r) Mark Miles, Doug Boles and Glenn Johnson speak to the media during the NTT IndyCar Series GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023, in Indianapolis. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com
While the rest of the United States sees the Indianapolis 500 live, the NBC affiliate blacks it out for its namesake city and airs it later that day, in primetime, to incentivize locals to pack the grandstands. This practice started in 1986 and continues to this day, except for 2016 (sellout for 100th Indy 500), 2020 and 2021 (COVID restrictions). Meanwhile, NASCAR doesn’t blackout races for the local markets. Not even for its crown jewel race, the Daytona 500.
So why does IndyCar and IMS continue this tradition? It’s a question Miles has had many times over many years.
“We have to get people here as they have been here in growing numbers for many, many years,” he said. “We’re really clear-minded about the fact that for us, attendance is first, and this spectacle emanates from the vibe here on race day with 300,000 plus people here. I think that’s unique.”
Unlike NASCAR, where tracks get 65% of its $6.6 billion TV deal, IndyCar doesn’t make those numbers public. How much IndyCar and the track rely on ticket sales, vs. the league’s TV deal, is unknown. And that doesn’t include how much the teams and drivers get from the TV deal the league signed in 2021.
So there might be a financial rationale to continue the practice.
“We think this is a unique event,” he said. “With all due respect, and I mean with complete respect to our friends at NASCAR, at Indianapolis for the 500, we sell as many tickets in the 500 hours after this race, renewals, as they have at the Daytona 500 in total by the time they run the race. And that is in no way meant to be — like I said, we have complete respect for them. It is meant to emphasize how important attendance is to us, to the success of this event.”
Of course, NASCAR doesn’t disclose how many tickets its tracks, Speedway Motorsports Inc., Indianapolis, Pocono Raceway or World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway sold, unless it’s a sellout. So I can’t verify the veracity of Miles’ statement on ticket renewals, compared to Daytona.
Bottom line
At the end of the day, IndyCar and IMS see a financial incentive to continue the local media blackout. Unlike NASCAR, however, IndyCar hasn’t struggled to pack the stands for its events.
“We also, I think, have demonstrated over the last few years that when getting people here is not an issue,” Miles said, “either because it’s COVID and we can’t bring anybody here, or because the number of people that could come were limited and we were definitely going to have that total here, then we do open it up. We like the idea that people can take it in, whether it’s linear or streaming.
“But for now, that’s our rationale, and it’s important to us.”
Competing in his fourth full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Rinus VeeKay is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the driver of the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will reach 50 career starts in the IndyCar circuit.
A native of Hoofddorp, Netherlands, VeeKay, whose racing career started with karting, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at the start of the 2020 season when he was signed by Ed Carpenter Racing to replace Spencer Pigot in the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet. By then, he had made previous starts in MRF Challenge Formula 2000, USF2000, Pro Mazda Championship, F3 Asian Winter Series and Indy Lights. His top accomplishments included championships during the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship season and the 2019 F3 Asian Winter Series.
During his maiden IndyCar career start at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2020, VeeKay finished 22nd after being involved in an early incident. He rebounded during the following week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by finishing fifth before finishing no higher than 13th during the following five events. He then finished no lower than 11th during the next four events before having a breakout run during the first of an IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader feature at Indy by claiming his maiden pole and maiden podium with a third-place result. With back-to-back top-20 results to cap off his maiden IndyCar season, VeeKay ended up in 14th place in the final standings and with a career-best average-finishing result of 12.9.
Remaining at Ed Carpenter Racing for a second full-time season, VeeKay commenced the 2021 campaign with a sixth-place result at Barber Motorsport Park in April followed by a ninth-place result at the Street of St. Petersburg in April. Three races later, he scored his maiden IndyCar career victory in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May after beating pole-sitter Romain Grosjean by more than five seconds. Following another three-race stretch, which included an eighth-place result in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May and a strong runner-up result in the first of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature at Belle Isle Street Circuit in June, VeeKay was absent and replaced by Oliver Askew for the following Grand Prix event at Road America after undergoing a surgery to repair a fractured left clavicle that he suffered from a bike incident earlier in the week. Returning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July, VeeKay finished no higher than 16th during the remaining seven-scheduled events and capped off his sophomore season in 12th place in the final standings.
In 2022, which marked VeeKay’s third stint in the IndyCar circuit with ECR, he commenced the season with another sixth-place result at the Streets of St. Petersburg followed by a 10th-place run at Texas. At Barber Motorsports Park in May, he led a race-high 57 of 90 laps before being overtaken late by Pato O’Ward and finishing third on the track. With just three additional top-10 results during the remaining 13 events on the schedule, VeeKay capped off his junior season in 12th place in the standings. By then, he had led a career-high 94 laps throughout the season and improved on his average-finishing result from 14.5 to 14.1.
Through 49 previous starts in the IndyCar Series, VeeKay has achieved one victory, two poles, four podiums, 180 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1. He is currently ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings with an average-finishing result of 19.3 through the first three-scheduled events. His current best on-track result to this season is an 11th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in early April.
VeeKay is scheduled to make his 50th NTT IndyCar Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
Nearly two months after competing in this year’s 65th running of the Daytona 500, Conor Daly is set to achieve a milestone start in his sixth full-time season in the NTT IndyCar Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, the driver of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will make his 100th career start in the IndyCar circuit.
A second-generation racer from Noblesville, Indiana, Daly, whose racing career started with karts before proceeding to win the 2010 Indy Pro 2000 title, made his IndyCar debut in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he piloted the No. 41 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Honda to a 22nd-place result. Two years later, he competed in a total of five IndyCar events between Dale Coyne Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Daly’s deal with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports occurred as he replaced James Hinchcliffe for three events following Hinchcliffe’s harrowing accident during a practice session leading up to the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. During the five-race span, his best on-track result was a sixth-place finish at Belle Isle during a Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit.
In 2016, Daly joined Dale Coyne Racing on a full-time IndyCar basis. Commencing the season with a 13th-place run at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the Indiana native notched five top-10 results throughout the 16-race schedule. He also achieved his maiden podium at The Raceway at Belle Isle Park during a Chevrolet Dual in Detroit by finishing second behind Sebastien Bourdais. When the final checkered flag of the 2016 season flew, Daly settled in 18th place in the final driver’s standings with 313 points. Throughout the season, he led a career-high 56 laps and notched an average-finishing result of 14.4, which is his best as a full-time IndyCar competitor.
The following season, Daly joined A.J. Foyt Enterprises as a full-time IndyCar competitor in the No. 4 Dallara-Chevrolet. He concluded the season in 18th place in the final standings for a second consecutive season on the strength of four top-10 results, a season-best fifth-place finish at Gateway Motorsports Park and 305 points.
For the 2018 season, Daly, who lose his ride at A.J. Foyt Enterprises, made his first IndyCar start of the season during the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, where he drove the No. 17 Dallara-Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in conjunction with Thom Burns Racing to a 21st-place result. He would then compete in three of the final six scheduled events for Harding Racign, where he notched a season-best 15th at Pocono Raceway.
The 2019 IndyCar season featured Daly competing for three different organizations, starting with Andretti Autosport for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. Piloting the No. 25 Andretti Dallara-Honda, he notched his first top-10 career result at his home track by finishing 10th. Three races later, he replaced Max Chilton in the No. 59 Carlin Dallara-Chevrolet for Texas Motor Speedway as he finished 11th. He returned to Carlin for the following three oval events at Iowa Speedway, Pocono and Gateway, where he notched a season-best sixth-place finish at Gateway. Then for the penultimate event of the season at Portland International Raceway, Daly drove the No. 7 Dallara-Honda for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in place of Marcus Ericsson, who was called up by Alfa Romeo to serve on a reserve driver duty for the upcoming Formula One event at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Finishing 21st for the Arrow Schmidt Peterson organization, Daly capped off the 2019 season by competing for Andretti Autosport at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he ended up 22nd.
For the following two seasons, Daly competed between Ed Carpenter Racing and Carlin. In 2020, he recorded six top-10 results throughout the 14-race schedule and a season-best sixth-place result during the season opener at Texas and a 29th-place run during the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 following a late wreck before finishing in a career-best 17th-place in the final standings with 237 points and an average-finishing result of 14.5. The following season, he led for the first time at his home track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500, as he led a total of 37 laps before finishing in 13th place while competing for Ed Carpenter Racing. The 13th-place run at Indy would also mark his highest-finishing result in 2021 as he averaged a 16.6 running spot throughout the 16-race schedule before settling in 18th place in the final standings with 235 points. Nonetheless, he accumulated 40 laps led, which marks his second-highest laps led in a season.
This past season, Daly inked a full-time deal to pilot the No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet for ECR. After finishing no higher than 12th during the first four scheduled events, he notched his first top-five result of the season in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Two weeks later, he led seven laps during the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 before settling in sixth place in the final running order, which marks his best result during the Indy 500. Daly, however, would proceed to finish no higher than 12th for the remaining 11 events on the schedule before tying his best result in the standings of 17th place and with 267 points.
Through 99 previous IndyCar starts, Daly has achieved one pole, one podium result, 136 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5. He is currently ranked in 14th place in the championship standings after finishing no lower than 20th during the first two events on the schedule, with his best result being 14th during the 2023 season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Daly is scheduled to make his 100th career start in the NTT IndyCar Series at the Streets of Long Beach for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
