Illott Joins Juncos Hollinger Racing; Askew to Finish Season at RLL

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Photos from Indycar

Two driver announcements for Portland today. Juncos Hollinger racing has signed F1 test driver Callum IIlott for Portland and Oliver Askew returns to Indycar in the 45 car for Rahal letterman Lanigan Racing. It is possible that Ilott will be fulltimne for Juncos Hollinger in 2022.

The official announcements via Indycar:

F1 TEST DRIVER ILOTT TO DEBUT FOR JUNCOS HOLLINGER AT PORTLAND

Ferrari Formula One test driver Callum Ilott will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut with Juncos Hollinger Racing at the Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 11-12.

British driver Ilott, 22, will be behind the wheel of the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet on the 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon.

“I am pleased and excited to be announcing I will be racing with Juncos Hollinger Racing at Portland,” Ilott said. “This will be my first time in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and running in the United States, which will be a bit of a change from running on the European side. I am looking forward to working with the team during this first phase of their development and am proud to be a part of this opportunity to build into their future embarkment.

“I would like to thank the Ferrari Driver Academy for allowing me to take this opportunity and for Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger for bringing me onboard the team.”

Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger announced their partnership to form Juncos Hollinger Racing in early August. The team committed to running the final three events of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in preparation for a full-time run for the 2022 season. The Grand Prix of Portland will be the first time the team has been on track in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since earning the final qualifying spot for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in dramatic fashion.

“We are very excited to welcome Callum Ilott to the Juncos Hollinger Racing family,” Juncos said. “Callum brings a lot of experience and incredible talent to the team. We are confident that he will transition well into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES when we get on track for our final test before making our official debut together at Portland next week.”

Ilott will turn his first laps in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car with Juncos during a test Thursday, Sept. 2 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

He most recently competed in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, claiming third with IRON LYNX in the LM GTE AM class. Earlier this year, the young Briton was signed by Ferrari’s F1 team as its test driver and was named a reserve driver for the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN F1 team.

Ilott began his racing career running in multiple karting series, earning many wins and podiums, and was regarded as one of the best karting drivers of his time. At age 16, he was the first driver to be taken directly from karts to the FIA F3 European Championship for the 2015 season, joining team Red Bull. That year he was the only driver to finish all 33 races and claimed one podium.

Ilott continued his run in the FIA F3 European Championship during the 2016 season, claiming two wins, seven podiums and two poles to finish sixth overall that year. In 2017, Ilott wrapped up his successful career in the FIA F3 Championship, finishing fourth overall after earning six wins, 11 podiums and nine poles.

In 2018, Ilott was invited to join the Ferrari Driver Academy. That year he also competed in the GP3 Series, capturing two wins, seven podiums and one pole to finish third overall in the championship.

Ilott climbed to the FIA F2 Championship in 2019, earning two podiums and one pole. In 2020, he returned to F2 with Uni-Virtuosi Racing and finished second overall after claiming three wins, six podiums and five poles.

Live coverage of the Grand Prix of Portland starts at 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday, Sept. 12 on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

ASKEW TO DRIVE NO. 45 RLL ENTRY DURING WEST COAST SWING

By INDYCAR | Published: Sep 1, 2021

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Oliver Askew

NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran Oliver Askew will drive the No. 45 Hy-Vee entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) at the final three races of the 2021 season, team officials announced today.

Askew, 24, will race for the team at the Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 12, the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sept. 19 and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sept. 26.

Hy-Vee, Inc. – an employee-owned supermarket chain that operates more than 280 retail stores across eight Midwestern states – was the primary sponsor of Graham Rahal’s entry for two races this season as well as a full-season associate and was the primary sponsor of the No. 45 Hy-Vee-sponsored entry at the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, doubleheader races in Detroit, and events in Mid-Ohio and Nashville.

“It’s fantastic opportunity to run the final three races of the season with such a capable team in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” Askew said. “We had a very productive test together a few weeks ago at Barber, and I’m excited to drive the team’s car again, this time in Hy-Vee colors in one of the most competitive racing environments the world has ever seen. I believe we can put together a great string of results, and I’m excited to get to work.”

Askew is a graduate of the Road to Indy ladder system with championships in Indy Lights (2019) and Cooper Tires USF2000 (2017). He made his debut in the INDYCAR SERIES with Arrow McLaren SP in 2020, completing a rise from karts to INDYCAR SERIES cars in four seasons. In 2020, he had a best start of fifth place in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a best finish of third at Iowa Speedway in Race 1 of the doubleheader.

In 2021, Askew has competed in two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, one each for Arrow McLaren SP (Detroit, Race 2) and Ed Carpenter Racing (Road America) as the replacement for their injured drivers Felix Rosenqvist and Rinus VeeKay, respectively. Also in 2021, he made his sports car racing debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and won the LMP3 class with Riley Motorsports.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Sept. 12 at Portland (Oregon) International Raceway. Live coverage starts at 3 p.m. (ET) on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

The Indycar Schedule for 2022; How Does 2021 End?; Notes

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Marti Update: Marti is home from rehab and tonight we begin two days of tests, an MRI and a bone scan to see if we can find the root cause of the problem. We will knoiw the results Friday afternoon and go from there.

The 2022 Indycar schedule is beginning to take shape, with the possibility of 18 races and five ovals on the calendar.

Eleven race dates are set, and the rest will most likely fall into their traditional weekend slots.

Dates we know:

March 13- St. Pete

April 10- Long Beach- not confirmed by Indycar, but is on the IMSA calendar

May 14- GMR Grand prix

May 29- 106th running of the Indianapolis 500

June 4/5 Detroit- Like Long Beach, assumed via IMSA calendar

July 23/24-Iowa

August 7- Nashville

August 20- Gateway

Barber will possibly end up on April 24 and Texas, which will be just a single race, on April 30.

Road America should keep the same weekend as this year, June 19, and Mid Ohio could stay on the Independence day weekend, July 3.

Will Toronto come back? Traditionally, the race in Canada is in mid July, which would slot on the 17th.

The final two races will be a September swing in Portland on the 11th and Laguna Seca the following week. I thought this was the last year of the contract with Portland, unless the deal was extended due to the 2020 cancellation.

Ending 2021- Will California Go on?

COVID developments on the west coast have me concerned about the season finbsihing according to the schedule. Portlad has institiuted a mask requirement for their race, and long Beach requires proof of vaccination or a negative test for admission, but are these measures enough to prevent a cancellation?

In a Racer magazine article, Jay Frye implied that Indycar has no contingency plans in the event of a cancellation of any of the final three races. That concerns me. I think there should be something in place ahead of time. Will we be crowening the champion at IMS after harvest GP 2.0?

Notes

I hope Formula 1 takes a long look at what happened at Spa yesterday and does some serious revision of their rules regarding what makes a race official. Two plus laps doesn’t do it as far as I am concerned. I don’t necessarily have a problem with awarding half points at a certain stoppage point, but it should be at least one fourth the scheduled distance.

My hat’s off to the fans who sat through the daylong downpour only to have the FIA thumb their noses at them. I hope refunds are issued.

Portland Weekend Schedule

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The schedule for the Portland Grand Prix came out a couple days ago. It will be another two day show for Indycar with one 75 minute practice before qualifying and a 30 minute practice after qualifying. Friday is dedicated to Indy Lights and ARCA Menard’s Series West.

I hope the series goes back to three day programs next year. Although Iu am not going to Portland this year, if I travel that far, I’d prefer to see Indycars on track all three days of the event.

Portland International Raceway recently issued a masking requirement for fans which applies both indoors and outdoors.

Times listed are Pacific Time and is scheduled for broadcast on NBC.

Next week I will discuss what we know about the 2022 schedule.

Remembering Robin Miller

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IMS Photo

Late to the party, and less eloquent than much of what I have read today, but please indulge me my thoughts regarding Robin Miller, Indycar’s voice in print and broadcasting. I find it ironic that during one of the best Indycar seasons in years we have lost two great voices of the sport within less than 20 days.

I knew Robin Miller for years before I met him. I may have read every story he put in the Indianapolis Star when it was a real newspaper. he covered racing, high school sports, and the pacers included. I liked his frank, forthright style. Euphemisms were for the other writers to use.

I’m not sure where Indycar would be today without Robin Miller. He helped drivers get rides in the series, he has pushed for races to get on the schedule, most recently Gateway, and his tireless touting of the series and the Indianapolis 500 have contibuted to the staus the series enjoys now.

We have lost a fierce Indycar advocate, a man who would help a struggling driver or team owner whenever and however he could, and someone who made the paddock and the media center come alive. I remember the first race for which I had media credentials at St. Pete how Miller’s charisma gave an energy to the compact crowded room. When Miller left, the stillness in the room was palpable.

I first actually met him in the IMS media center that year. I happened to be wearing one of the shirts I had purchased from one of his numerous fund raisers. We rode the elevator up to the fourth floor together.

“Nice shirt,” he said. I thanked him and introduced myself. After that he always greeted me with a smile. I felt comfortable going to him with questions which he always took time to answer. he didn’t seem to care what out let you wrote for, if you were in the media center, you were a comrade.

My best memories of Miller come from Portland. In 2018, the year the venue returned to the series, his fist comments upon entering the media center were about how little money had been spent on the place in 11 years.

The next year, I sat near him in the Portland media center as he took a call from A. J. Foyt. It was a cordial conversation about when Robin would release a story. He wouldn’t share the news with me at the time, but when it broke, I asked for a clarification and he calmly explained it to me.

Please don’t ask who will replace Robin Miller at Racer magazine. The answer is no one. Someone might take over the mailbag (I hope not), and someone might step into his reporting role. But replace? No way.

Indycar Loses Its Biggest Voice; Robin Miller Dies at 71

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Sad news this morning as we learn of the death of Robin Miller. The obituary is by Curt Cabin and is from Indycar. More thoughts later.

Robin L. Miller, a lifelong motorsports fan who became one of the sport’s most recognized and influential media personalities, died Aug. 25 in Indianapolis. He was 71.

A native of his beloved Southport, Indiana, Miller rose to prominence as an Indianapolis Star sports writer, parlaying his love of many sports into more than 50 years of communication that defined his life.

Known predominantly as a writer and columnist covering the Indianapolis 500 and INDYCAR SERIES racing, Miller became a television personality first with ESPN, then SPEED and most recently NBC. He also had long stints at all of Indianapolis’ TV affiliates over the years.

Miller’s journalism career began at The Star in 1968, and he never retired from writing about auto racing. His stories and columns were featured in Autoweek, Car and Driver, Sports Illustrated and RACER, among other notable publications and websites, and for years he hosted shows on Indianapolis radio stations as he was a master storyteller.

Miller first visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway with his father, Bob, in 1957, attending his first “500” two years later. In 1968, at the age of 18, he began working for his racing hero, hard-luck driver Jim Hurtubise, running the pit board and assigned to various non-mechanical jobs. However, the stint was short-lived as Miller ruined part of the paint on Hurtubise’s car.

Miller got hired at The Star a month later and talked his way into the sports department, where his first duties included answering telephones and taking box score information alongside Jeff Smulyan, who later owned the Seattle Mariners, and future Star.columnist Bill Benner.

Miller, a Ball State dropout, got his first break as a newspaper writer when The Star needed a reporter for the still-fledgling professional basketball team, the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association. Fiery coach Bobby Leonard took a liking to Miller, allowing the skinny-but-frisky 19-year-old access to the team that would be unheard of for today’s sportswriters. Many of the ABA players from that era – Bob Netolicky, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown and Billy Shepherd – became among Miller’s closest friends.

Miller tried his hand at driving race cars in the early 1970s, buying a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli. Two years later, Miller purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen to start a 10-year run as a USAC competitor. With help from racing buddies Larry Rice, Johnny Parsons and the Bettenhausen brothers, Miller developed into a driver quick enough to qualify fifth for the 1980 Hut Hundred midget race at the Terre Haute Action Track, a prestigious dirt event featuring 33 cars lined up in 11 rows of three. However, a blown engine forced him out of the race.

Miller admittedly didn’t have a mechanical bone in his body and long enjoyed telling stories of his racing naivety. Such as, he bought a trailer too narrow for his race car – it had to be loaded in at an angle — and he survived a crash into a telephone pole in the Indiana State Fairgrounds parking lot when he started the car without buckling up. The throttle stuck, launching the powerful machine unexpectedly and dangerously forward.

In an even more serious situation, Miller suffered a head injury in hot laps at a 1975 midget race in Hinsdale, Illinois, when he flipped the car into a concrete wall, tearing the cage off his car.

However, a decade in a race car gave Miller a unique perspective on the sport and the drivers he covered. Over a span of 50 years, Miller befriended most of racing’s biggest names, regularly engaging them at lunches and dinners he organized. He was particularly close with “500” drivers Tom Sneva, Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Bobby and Al Unser, Tony Bettenhausen, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, and late-night TV icon and INDYCAR SERIES team owner David Letterman. Yet he seemed to know something about everyone involved in the sport, and he could hold court with the best of them.

For years, Miller was the animated emcee of the Last Row Party, the Indiana Press Club Foundation’s event which traditionally skewered the slowest three qualifiers of each “500.” He particularly enjoyed the event when it included Gordon Johncock, Steve Chassey and Pancho Carter, other close friends of his.

In 2019, as Miller covered his 50th “500” amid declining health, Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced the creation of the Robin Miller Award, to be given annually to an unheralded individual who has brought unbridled passion and an unrelenting work ethic to enrich the sport.

Miller, a lifelong bachelor, is survived by a sister, Diane, and nieces Emily and Ashley.

Bommarito 500 – The Race of Many Faces

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Photo: Josef Newgarden may not have had the fastest car, but he had the best looking one. Photo by Chris Owens, indycar

The Bommarito Autuomotive Group 500 last night was many things. It was messy, it was great racing, it was processional, and it was dramatic. When six cars are knocked out of the race in the first 65 laps, you have to wonder if anyone will be left by the end. The race then settled down and Colton Herta, who had the fastest car took control on lap 139. behind him was a great battle for second and Takuma Sato and Romain Grosjean kept the crowd’s attention. Sato with a couple of close calls as he battled Ryan Hunter-Reay- they have tangled several times in the past- and Grosjean, in his first ever oval race, wowing the crowd with good passes and some anxious moves toward the outer wall. In the end, after Pato O’Ward’s best chance at catching winner Josef Newgarden’s car failed, it was a procession to the end.

Finally a clean first lap at Gateway, but the relief was short lived. Indycar Photo by James Black

The race changed after Herta’s third pit stop when the drive shaft broke on his out lap. That left Rossi as the only other driver to contend with Newgarden, although his car was not good after his last stop. Rossi crashed on lap 200, and O’Ward had one last chance to catch the leader on the final restart.

Saturday’s race was the second of the last three with six or more cars eliminated by contact. Two of the four title contenders, including Alex Palou, the points leader, were involved last night. It didn’t help either of them that the other two contenders finished 1-2. Just 43 points separate the top four in the standings with three races to go. The next race, Portland, has the always risky first turn, which has resulted in lots of car damage in the last two starts.

Notes

Josef Newgarden has won three of the six Indycar races since the series returned in 2017.

Foyt’s Best Track? World Wide Technology Raceway has produced great results for A. J. Foyt Racing the last five years. Last night Sebastien Bourdais finished fifth and led 18 laps. Dalton Kellett finished 12th. In 2019 tony Kanaan stood on the podium in 3rd, and in 2017, Conor Daly ended the race in fifth. Larry Foyt told in 2017 that the team found something about this track and whatever they learned still seems to work.

Changes at the Top- yesterday was a day of changing leadership. Not only did Pato O’Ward retake the lead in the Indycar standings, David Malukas is the new leader in Indy lights after sweeping the two races this weekend. Whether they can stay on top is going to be exciting to watch.

Lots of Beer, Little Food– It seems the beer vendors decidedly outnumbered the food vendors Saturday by at least two to one. i saw mostly barbecue and the standard track fare of burgers and little else. But if you wanted a beer or other adult beverage, a booth was always in arm’s reach. It seems to me that there were more food vendors in previous years. The event is supposed to be growing, and Indycar will be back for five more years. It’s an area th track needs to give attention to.

Scott Mclaughlin increased his lead over Romain Grosjean for Rookie of the Year to 23 points with his fourth place finish last night. I still think Grosjean will be ahead going into the season finale at Long Beach.

Thanks for following along on this hectic weekend. I am going to take a break for a couple of days unless something major happens, like F1 replacing the Japanese Grand Prix with an oval race at IMS.

Quick Thoughts on the Race That Changed the Season

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The first quarter of the race looked like a high speed version of Nashville- poor judgment, messy restarts, and yellows breeding yellows.

I have never seen the championship battle change as quickly as it did last night. While Alexx Palou is still second, it looks like the title is between Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward. They both have momentum while Palou has two consecutive DNFs. Neither of the DNFs were Palou’s fault.

Romain Grosjean had a nice oval debut. He ran in the top 10 for awhile and made some good passes. He also had some moments drifting high as he exited turn 3.

Scott McLaughlin had his second oval top 5 of the season.

Rings VeeKay continues his downward trend. After his win in May on the IMS road course, he has gone backwards jn the standings.

I dknow what it will take for an Andretti car to win another race. Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta both had cars capable of winning, and neither saw the end of the race. Rossi’s car was not good after his last pit stop, and Herta had the race in control until his drive shift broke.

Palou’ s challenge-Get back to racing hard. His once comfortable lead allowed him tobe a little conservative on track, but now he needs to regain his early season form. He had moved up quite a bit before he was taken out of the race.

A one day show at this point I f the season in yesterday’s heat semed to take its toll on the paddock.

I miss the Friday night practice.

I will have a more detailed article tonight. I will be driving home in a bit, and I just wanted to get some thoughts out.

The point standings:

Race Day

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It’s also practice and qualifications day for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 as Indycar has a one day show at World Wide Technology Raceway. Right now 8ts cloudy and there have been sprinkles in the area. It looks like qualifications might be impacted by the best chances for rain this afternoon but the weather should be fine for the race.

Today’s schedule:

In last evening’s Indy Lights race, David Malukas won to cut Kyle Kirkwood’s lead to just 2 points. Race 2 is today.

II’ll be heading out to the track for practice in a bit. I’m looking forward to a fun day.