Category: Auto Racing

Grosjean Set for Oval Debut; News and Notes

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A few noteworthy items as we head into the weekend at Detroit.

Romain Grosjean will run his first oval race at Gateway in August. Grosjean originally planned to run only the street and road course races, but had left Gateway open as a possibility. The run at the Madison, Illinois track may be a prelude for Grosjean to attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 next year.

Grosjean earned the pole for the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month, finishing second in the race after leading the most laps

Mid Ohio Paddock Passes on Sale

Mid Ohio will allow fans paddock access at the Honda Indy 200. The announcement yesterday said that paddock and pit passes are now on sale. Mid Ohio joins Detroit and Road America as tracks allowing fans paddock access as things slowly return to normal.

Detroit Unmasked

The Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit now has no mask requirement for fans while outdoors. Inside buildings, masks are required for unvaccinated people. The race initially had attendance limited to 20% of capacity, but that restriction is also no longer in effect. Race organizers have opened up more reserved grandstand seating, but they are still limiting the number of general admission tickets sold.

We may be seeing the end of fan restrictions as the series moves ionto the second half of the season.

Who Gets Race 17?

There are three options to replace the cancelled Toronto race- a double header at Mid Ohio, a double header at Gateway, or no replacement at all.

Mid Ohio makes the most sense since the track and Toronto have the same promoter, Green Savoree. Gateway is a good choice since that would give the series another oval race. Doing nothing might be what happens if a television window is not available for the additional race.

I think there will be a 17th race. Time is not on Mid Ohio’s side, but since the track hosted a double header on short notice last year, it could still happen.

Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear Fast Facts

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Race weekend: Friday, June 11 – Sunday, June 13
Track: Raceway at Belle Isle Park, a 2.35-mile, 14-turn temporary street course (clockwise)
Race distance: 70 laps / 164.5 miles (both races)
Media Links: Race 1 Entry List | Race 2 Entry List | Driver Video Quotes
Push-to-pass parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (for each race)
Firestone tire allotment: Eight sets primary, five sets alternate (weekend). Teams must use one set of primary and alternate tires in each race. One additional set available to teams fielding a rookie driver is available for the first session of the weekend.
Twitter: @DetroitGP @IndyCar, #DetroitGP, #IndyCar
Event website: http://www.DetroitGP.com INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com 2019 race winners: Race 1: Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet); Race 2: Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) 2019
NTT P1 Award winners: Race 1: Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda) 1:14.1989, 114.018 mph; Race 2: Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) 1:14.8607, 113.010 mph.
Qualifying lap record: Takuma Sato, 1:13.6732, 114.831 mph, June 4, 2017
NBC Sports race telecasts: Race 1 Qualifying, 11 a.m. ET Saturday NBCSN (live); Race 2 Qualifying, 9 a.m. Sunday, NBCSN (live); Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 1, 2 p.m. ET Saturday, NBC (live); Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2, noon ET Sunday, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.
Peacock Premium Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analysts Davey Hamilton and Nick Yeoman. Jake Query and Michael Young are the turn announcers with Ryan Myrehn and Joel Sebastianelli in the pit lane. The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit doubleheader will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
At-track schedule (all times local): Friday, June 11 5 – 6:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice #1, Peacock Premium
Saturday, June 12 11 – 11:45 a.m. – Race 1 qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Two rounds of knockout qualifying/10 minutes each), NBCSN, Peacock Premium (live) 1:20 p.m. – Driver introductions 1:58 p.m. – Command to start engines 2:05 p.m. – Chevrolet Dual in Detroit #1 (70 laps/164.5 miles), NBC (live) Sunday, June 13 9:15 – 10 a.m. – Race 2 qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Two rounds of knockout qualifying/10 minutes each), NBCSN, Peacock Premium (live) Noon – Driver introductions 12:43 p.m. – Command to start engines 12:50 p.m. – Chevrolet Dual in Detroit #2 (70 laps/164.5 miles), NBC (live)
Race notes: There have been six different winners in six NTT INDYCAR SERIES races to start the 2021 season. Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park), Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1) and Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500) have all won in 2021. The last time there were seven different winners to start the season was 2017. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
There have been eight different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay and Helio Castroneves) The only repeat winners in that stretch are Newgarden (2 wins – Harvest GP-1 and St. Petersburg in 2020) and Herta (2 wins – Mid-Ohio-2 in 2020 and St. Petersburg 2021).
The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit will be the 28th and 29th INDYCAR SERIES races conducted at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park and the 30th and 31st INDYCAR SERIES races held in Detroit. A 2.5-mile street circuit in downtown Detroit hosted CART events from 1989-1991. Scott Dixon has won three times at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park, tied with Helio Castroneves for most wins by an INDYCAR SERIES driver at the track.
 In addition to Dixon, other previous Belle Isle winners entered include Sebastien Bourdais (2015 Race 2 and 2016 Race 1), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2018 Race 2), Josef Newgarden (2019 Race 1), Simon Pagenaud (2013 Race 2), Will Power ( 2014 Race 1 and 2016 Race 2) and Graham Rahal (2017 Race 1 and Race 2).
There have been 17 different pole winners in the previous 25 races. Pole winners entered in this year’s race are Josef Newgarden (2019 Race 2), Alexander Rossi (2019 Race 1 and 2018 Race 2), Graham Rahal (2017 Race 1), Takuma Sato (2014 Race 2, 2017 Race 2), Simon Pagenaud (2016 – Race 1 and Race 2), Will Power (2015 Race 1) and Scott Dixon (2008 and 2012). Four drivers have won the race from the pole: Graham Rahal (2017, Race 1), Scott Dixon (2012), Helio Castroneves (2001) and Robby Gordon (1995). The driver who has gone on to win the championship has won at Detroit five times. Josef Newgarden won Race 1 in 2019, Scott Dixon won Race 1 in 2018, Will Power won Race 2 in 2014, Alex Zanardi won on Belle Isle in 1998, Bobby Rahal won at Belle Isle in 1992 and Emerson Fittipaldi won in downtown Detroit in 1989. Scott Dixon has competed in 18 previous races at Belle Isle, most of any driver. Thirteen drivers entered have led laps at the track (Dixon 127, Graham Rahal 107, Simon Pagenaud 93, Will Power 50, Takuma Sato 44, Sebastien Bourdais 38, Josef Newgarden 33, Ryan Hunter-Reay 20, Santino Ferrucci 20, Alexander Rossi 19, James Hinchcliffe 11, Conor Daly 4 and Marcus Ericsson 2)
Seven drivers will race NTT INDYCAR SERIES cars at the Raceway at Belle Isle for the first time: Romain Grosjean, Jack Harvey, Jimmie Johnson, Dalton Kellett, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay.
Scott Dixon has made 278 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES racing. Dixon, the longest-tenured driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, is third on the all-time victory list with 51 wins. Will Power is tied with Al Unser for fifth on the all-time list with 39 wins and Sebastien Bourdais is seventh on the all-time list with 37 wins.

St. Pete Extends Indycar Through 2026

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Indycar now has its season opener set for the next five years as the St. Pete City Council unanimously agreed to an extension of the race through 2026 on the event’s original date in March. The full announcement from the city:

St. Petersburg City Council unanimously extends Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg through 2026

Grand Prix will return to its traditional March date in 2022
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (June 9, 2021) – The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will remain a cornerstone event on the downtown streets and waterfront through at least 2026. St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved a two-year extension to the existing agreement with Green Savoree St. Petersburg, LLC (GSSP) on June 3rd.
This spring break racing tradition has been a marquee event on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ annual calendar for the past 17 years. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg brings worldwide exposure and spectators from across the globe to the City of St. Petersburg. 
“I am thrilled that the Grand Prix will be in the Sunshine City through 2026. I want to thank City Council for recognizing the importance of this race in St. Pete,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. “I also want to thank Kim (Green) and Kevin (Savoree), and everyone at the Grand Prix for not only organizing and promoting one of our city’s best events year after year, but for their dedication to our community.”
Set to return to its traditional position on the calendar during the second weekend of March in 2022, the dates for the next five Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg races are:
March 10-13, 2022 March 9-12, 2023 March 7-10, 2024 March 6-9, 2025 March 12-15, 2026
“There is no better backdrop than downtown St. Petersburg and its picturesque waterfront for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to showcase the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” said Kim Green, co-owner, chairman and CEO of GSSP. “The success and continued growth of the event has only been possible with the overwhelming support and collaboration with the City of St. Petersburg’s Councillors, Mayor Kriseman and his fantastic team.” 
The City of St. Petersburg’s “Embrace the Race” campaign has worked alongside local businesses to create a great experience for visitors. The efforts multiply the economic impact which the race has on St. Petersburg and local surrounding communities each year.
The event has also had an ongoing impact on the local community through fundraising efforts for the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg. Over a four-year span via the MBA 5K Run on the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Track, over $216,000 has been raised for the Police Athletic League and American Stage Theatre. The 5K run and walk event is planned to return in 2022 after being put on pause for 2021. 
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is run on a 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary waterfront circuit that includes a combination of adjacent downtown streets circling Pioneer Park, The Mahaffey Theater, the Salvador Dali Museum and extending onto the runways of Albert Whitted Airport. The set up and tear down process has become more efficient each year. Most recently it took 25 days to construct the circuit and the removal was done within six days thanks to the support of local vendors like Stepp’s Towing and the development of a collaborated plan with the City of St. Petersburg’s administration and events team. 
For event information, visit gpstpete.com. Also, follow the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on social media using #FirestoneGP for additional ongoing updates and news. 

About Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is a race event held during Florida’s spring break season each March and rescheduled to the last weekend of April this year. Traditionally the site of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ season-opening race, St. Pete is a destination city hosting this annual motorsports tradition and offering a festival atmosphere with its downtown location. The temporary circuit is a 1.8-mile, 14-turn configuration using the streets circling Pioneer Park, the Duke Energy Center for the Arts, The Dali Museum and extending onto the runways at Albert Whitted Airport, which overlooks the waterfront of Tampa Bay and picturesque St. Petersburg Harbor and Marina. Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is owned and operated by Green Savoree St. Petersburg, LLC. Green Savoree St. Petersburg, LLC is owned by Green Savoree Racing Promotions 2, LLC whose other subsidiaries also promote three additional INDYCAR races, The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (July 2-4, 2021), Honda Indy Toronto, and Grand Prix of Portland (Sept. 10-12, 2021). 
For more information, visit gpstpete.com, ‘like’ its Facebook page at @GPSTPETE or follow the event on Twitter @GPSTPETE and Instagram @GPSTPETE using #FirestoneGP.

Daly Has Confidence Heading to Belle Isle

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Photo by James Black, Indycar

Conor Daly enjoyed his time off from Indycar, but he is ready to head to Detroit for this weekend’s grand prix on Belle Isle. Daly loves this track, and he has had success here, with a second place and he also led laps at the race which follows the Indianapolis 500.

Daly’s Ed Carpenter Racing had a great May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Rinus VeeKay winning the GMR Grand Prix, placing two cars in the Fast Nine, and Daly leading the most laps in the Indianapolis 500. Team owner Carpenter finished fifth, VeeKay eighth, and Daly 13th after a tire from Graham Rahal’s car damaged the nose of Daly’s car.

Despite losing a chance for the win, Daly remains upbeat and confident as the series heads to the halfway point of the 2021 season this weekend. In a very positive press availability Tuesday, Daly outlined his reason for his optimism.

“It’s one of my favorite tracks, even 2015there in the Arrow machine for Hinch after he had the mix-up with the wall at Indy. That was one of my most fun weekends, still to this day. In the rain, leading the race there up against those guys as a complete and utter rookie. I love the track. Love the race weekend. I think it’s done so well.”Daly believes the team has momentum, not necessarily from just the 500, but from the GMR Grand Prix as well.

“…what I look forward to most is the progress we made at the Indy GP. That’s what I’m most excited about. That is such a short weekend, you get right into oval stuff. We made a lot of progress there. I’m excited to see if we can continue that for another good run at Detroit.”

For the first time in his career, Daly is developing continuity with a team. He thinks that has contributed to his success in 2021.

“I think for years I’ve been talking about creating continuity. I think we see right now what continuity is doing for this whole group, both Rinus and I. We get better. Your goal as a driver is to improve constantly, work with your team to just keep building that pyramid up, keep going.Rinus is doing that. I think I’m doing that. I don’t think we’ve been able to obviously translate to results yet for several things that have been out of our control obviously. But we’re in the fight rather than a lot of the races last year we were nowhere even near the talk of anything. But now we’re putting ourselves up there.”

On the progress ECR has made from 2020 to this season, Daly said,

“Leaps and bounds. Massive, massive amounts of progress. Certainly for me personally because I kind of know, obviously not going to give away everything we’re doing, but I know that Rinus and I drive different cars, very different cars. A lot of the times we just haven’t been able to get what I needed out of it. It’s much easier for Rinus. He’s obviously very, very quick, very, very talented.”

Daly summed up his and the team’s approach for the rest of the season:

“We’re just going to keep going at it every weekend, trying to be the best we can be. I feel really good about myself and my team, yeah. That’s the goal, is to just be happy and be ready to execute every weekend.
I mean, I’ve learned a lot about myself I guess. I think I’ve also tried to do a lot of work on my own brain, which I think has been helpful because a lot of the stuff, when you look at a year going into it, none of this crazy stuff is going to happen, it’s just going to be great, every race is going to be great.All this crazy stuff has happened, and you can’t change your attitude. You have to go into Detroit, It’s going to be great, it’s going to be perfect, we’re going to execute.”

Ferrucci Stays with RLL for Detroit

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Santino Ferrucci’s Indycar run continues this weekend as he will again drive the number of 45 Hy-Vee car for Rahal hours Letterman hours Lanigan Racing.

Ferrucci drove the car to a sixth place finish in the Indianapolis area 500 May 30. He has finished in the top seven I have all three of his runs in the past 500.

Hy_Vee appears to be a good increasing its involvement with RLL. We may see Ferrucci later in the year as well.

Ferrucci started 2021 as a part time job Xfinity series driver for the Sam Hunt Racing. It looks as though he is trying to add as many of the Indycar races to his 20 race stock car schedule as. he can.

It’s always good to have another car on the grid and a sponsor increasing its involvement in the series. RLL has been exploring the addition of a third full time in car for some time now.

Rahal, Bourdais Ready to Move on From Indy

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TThe Indianapolis 500 didn’t end well for either Graham Rahal or Sébastien Bourdais, but both are ready to move on to focus on the remaining two-thirds of the Indycar season.

Rahal discussed how his race ended in general terms, concluding,

“Everybody accepted what went wrong. Now we’re moving forward. Now we’re focused on Detroit and making the restof this year as best we can.
I think it’s great to turn the page now, move forward to a race that I’ve loved so much.”

Bourdais, like Rahal a two time winner at Detroit, is also eager to return to a place where he has had success.

“There was that dismal weekend at Texas. None of our fault, but that definitely set the tone a little bit for a bit of a moreconservative 500. When you’ve pretty much already wipedout your crash budget in a matter of 24 hours, I think we allfelt very conservative, maybe a little bit too conservative, in quallie trim and everything…just looking forward to the next ones, keep our a relatively new group kind of all working together
and trying to make the best of our situation in a very, very competitive field right now.”

Rahal and Bourdais expressed apprecifationor Roger Penske and his team for torture of the Detroit Grand Prix, one of the races that was canceled due to the pandemic in 2020.

Bourdais : “…we can thank, like Graham was saying, Roger and the entire team on the INDYCAR SERIES side, the Detroit side for putting all the hard work, letting us do ourthing, doing it all together.
on the weekend ahead.”

Rahal: “I want to say thanks to Roger and Bud and the group for keeping their heads down and making Detroit happen thisyear. I know for a while it was looking pretty limited fan-wise and everything else. We’re certainly excited to be back. It’s become a staple on the INDYCAR circuit. We’re excited to get a chance to turn the page from Indy, move on, hopefully have a great weekend.”

Both drivers expressed concern about the physical nature of the bumpy Belle Isle track and the heat that the aeroscreen will generate in the cockpit.

Bourdais talked about the aeroscreen,
“The aeroscreen safety-wise, particularly for the ovals and the superspeedways, just a single biggest investment forsure is concerned as far as safety is concerned. For me for sure on the street courses I sometimes wish the screenwasn’t there because I feel like it’s making things extremely difficult and uncomfortable in the car. I think it’s just onevery tough compromise, right? You just add that big safetypiece on an existing car that really wasn’t designed for anything like this, how you manage the airflow andeverything around.For sure when it gets hot and humid, particularly on streetcourses, the body temperature inside the 120 degree cockpit gets pretty critical. Yeah, it’s never really a fun last10, 15 laps of those races. Doing it twice in a weekend, I think that dehydration level is going to be tough. “

Rahal added,

” I do think it’s going to be an exceptionally physical weekend. It looks hot, upper 80s and sunny. Detroit doesnot have any long straightaways really. I do think it’s goingto be a pretty physical weekend.Aside from everything else, everybody is pretty used to it now. We’re a year into this thing. The aeroscreen has been a great addition, a great addition to the sportsafety-wise. You look at the saves it’s already had in itstime. I think it’s been great.No, I think we’ll just go at it and try to make sure that youget rested up on Saturday night if you have a full day on Saturday because Sunday is going to be another bruiser.”

Detroit Weekend Schedule

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A little bit of a bit of a different schedule this year in Detroit. There is only one late afternoon practice session Friday, and the qualifying procedure each day sees a slight modification.

Instead of the fastest driver in each of those two groups making up. the front row, an extra 10 minute round has been added with the fastest six from each group running for the pole. I assume that the the groups switch. order for Sunday’s qualifying.

The IMSA race is Saturday afternoon at 5 pm following the Indycar race

Big Machine Sponsors August Road Race at IMS

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From Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday :

BIG MACHINE VODKA SPIKED COOLERS NAMED TITLE SPONSOR OF NTT INDYCAR SERIES ROAD RACE AUG. 14 AT IMS

June 04, 2021 | By Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Big Machine brand is increasing its already substantial involvement with INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway as its refreshing new adult vodka juice pouches, Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers, will become the title sponsor of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race Saturday, Aug. 14 on the IMS road course.

“Big Machine’s enthusiasm for IMS, INDYCAR and motorsports is incredible,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “Scott Borchetta and his team have been such engaged, dynamic partners over the last decade, and this title sponsorship of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES road race during Brickyard Weekend takes that to a new level. We’re so grateful for our loyal friends at Big Machine, and their support will help us to elevate this exciting triple-header race weekend even higher.”

The Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix will take center stage Saturday on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit at IMS, featuring the talented driver lineup and ultra-competitive, wheel-to-wheel action of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. It’s one of three major events that weekend on the road course, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series also will compete Saturday and the NASCAR Cup Series will race on the IMS road course for the first time Sunday, Aug. 15.

“Big Machine is celebrating 10 years as an IMS sponsor, and we’re so proud to announce this new, multi-year agreement highlighting our incredible new Spiked Coolers,” said the all-things Big Machine CEO, Scott Borchetta. “There is no other track in the world like IMS and, as the recent Indy 500 highlighted, it never disappoints. This is going to be a fantastic weekend of racing that fans will not want to miss.”

Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers are the latest in Big Machine Distillery’s long line of high-quality products and are available in three delicious flavors – Tropical, Lemonade and Cranberry. The ready-to-drink adult vodka juice cocktails come in eco-friendly pouches with straws included, making them the perfect drink for the pool, lake or racetrack. Spiked Coolers are currently available in multiple states, including Indiana and Tennessee. A more complete list of locations can be found at spikedcoolers.com.

This multiyear partnership also includes designation of Big Machine Vodka, “The Smoothest Tasting Vodka, Period!”, as the Official Vodka of the Brickyard Weekend, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500, and Big Machine Hand Sanitizer as the Official Hand Sanitizer of the Brickyard Weekend, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500.

Big Machine has been a valued partner in a variety of IMS events for a decade with its music & entertainment, spirits and hand sanitizer divisions. In addition to its NTT INDYCAR SERIES sponsorship at IMS, Big Machine is also the title sponsor of the series’ newest spectacle, the Big Machine Music City Prix, coming up Aug. 8 on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee.

Visit IMS.com for more information and for tickets to the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix and the other races during Brickyard Weekend Aug. 13-15.