Cannon Leaves PREMA

thepitwindow

Michael Cannon has resigned from PREMA before the team has its first test. Cannon, who joined PREMA as head of engineering and was introduced at the team’s reveal presentation, issued a statement explaining his reasons.

It appears PREMA is making the same mistake other European teams make when they attempt to enter the series. They feel that they have all the answers and ignore advice from people who have a lot of experience in IndyCar. This arrogance has not worked out well in the past.

I thought PREMA was far ahead of Carlin, who came into the series without much ehlp and struggled mightily.

PREMA’s premiere presentation gave me hope that this was a European team approaching IndyCar the right way with an all star cast of IndyCar support veterans. While they still have Piers Phillips and Ryan Briscoe, Michael Cannon would have helped this team tremendously.

I hope Cannon can find another spot in the series. He is too good to not be on someone’s team.

A Busy Week for IndyCar

thepitwindow

IndyCar started the year with a very busy week. Content Days were followed by A.J. Foyt’s 90th birthday (I’m not that old- how can he be that old?), and a presence at the Detroit Auto Show, which has moved back to its traditional January date.

The main highlight from Content Days was the universal praise for FOX and the preseason prep they have been doing. The drivers involved in shooting the promos were impressed by the level of professionalism and attention. Other drivers also feel very good about the switch to the new network.

A. J. at 90

Considering the era in which Foyt raced, it is remarkable that he survived it. The 50s and 60s were two of the deadliest decades in the sport.

His accomplishments have been well documented, and I won’t rehash them here. Ibn y humble opinion, there has never been a better all-around driver then A. J. Foyt.

I think Foyt’s competitiveness is keeping him going. Paul Goldsmith dies last year at age 98. I’m pretty sure Foyt wants to beat that.

Baby Borgs

Yesterday at the Detroit Auto Show Josef Newgarden and Roger Penske received their baby Borg trophies for winning the 2024 Indianapolis 500.

David Malukas also appeared at the show.

Notes

Single day tickets are now on sale for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The opening race of the season is the weekend of February 28-March 2.

Testing

Full field Indycar tests:

February 17-18 Sebring

April 23-24 IMS

Individual teams may also have private tests scheduled.

Next week is the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Several IndyCar drivers and teams will participate.

Buxton Heads FOX Broadcast Team; Hinchcliffe, Bell Return

thepitwindow

IndyCar on FOX will have a new lead play by play (lap by lap?) man teaming with two faces familiar to IndyCar fans. Will Buxton, who has covered Formula 1 extensively for more than a decade, will join IndyCar broadcast veterans James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell in the broadcast booth.

Buxton has followed IndyCar but has never been to the Indianapolis 500. He did visit IMS on a qualifying weekend in the mid 2010s. I think he is more than up to the challenge, and I am looking forward to him as the lead.

I am relieved that Hinchcliffe will remain. He brings great insight with his experience in the car as it is currently configured. I have never been a fan of Bell’s style. I find him a bit condescending at times, but I can’t think of another former driver who is prepared to step into the analyst role.

Pit reporters will be announced later. I’m hearing a couple former drivers are under consideration, but I’m not hearing Kevin Lee’s name much. FOX would be making a huge mistake not to include him, in my opinion.

Content Day Continues

The second half of Content Day begins at 8 am Eastern this morning with more driver interviews. The main takeaway from yesterday is universal and effusive praise for the work FOX has already done for the upcoming season.

Another theme was the new car. Drivers want something sexy, loud, and fast. I think they will be disappointed on the first part.

I hope to avoid any more home disasters today and check in on a few more interviews.

IndyCar Content Days- The New Season Sprouts

thepitwindow

Photo: Alex Palou will be going for one of two possible three-peats in 2025

IndyCar Content Days give fans and the media a glimpse of what to expect during the new season. The two days are jam packed for the drivers, with physicals, interviews, and photo shoots.

The media will get its first chance to talk to rookies Robert Shwartzman, rookie driver for PREMA, and Jacob Abel, announced today in one the Dale Coyne seats. The Israeli born Shwartzman is scheduled to be the penultimate interview on Wednesday afternoon at approximately 2 pm Eastern time. Abel meets the media Tuesday at 2:40 pm.

Pato O’Ward leads off today’s interviews at 8 am.

Monday’s News

Besides the Dale Coyne announcement, a car number was designated, and a team presented a new logo.

David Malukas will drive car 4 for A. J. Foyt Racing. The second car had been number 41` the last few seasons.

Ed Carpenter racing presented a name change to ecr, and shows a new logo on their still under construction website.

I like the outline of IM S as the border, the lettering I find bland. The logo does nothing to say this is a racing team. I understand the liveries of Alexander Rossi’s car 20 and Christian Rasmussen’s 21 will reflect the gold and black colors.

Dale Coyne mentioned in the3 Abel news rele3ase that the team’s second driver will be named within three weeks. That news seems to make it doubtful that Rinus VeeKay will be in the series full time this season.

The Broadcast Booth

The FOX broadcast team is close to being set, according to some sources I spoke with yesterday. James Hinchcliffe was confirmed Monday to remain in the booth.

I cannot mention the other names I heard. and will not until they are official, but some changes are on the way.

An announcement could come sometime in the next two days.

Coyne Signs Abel to Car 51

thepitwindow2 Comments

Dale Coyne Racing announced today the signing of Indy NXT runner-up Jacob Abel to a full season deal to drive car 51. The move leaves just Coyne’s second car, number18, as the only seat left to fill for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series grid.

The announcement from Dale Coyne Racing:

Plainfield, IL. (Monday, January 13, 2025) Dale Coyne Racing today announces that multiple-time Indy NXT race winner and 2024 vice champion Jacob Abel will step up into the NTT IndyCar Series in the No. 51 My Entry for the full 2025 season. The 23-year-old American driver is making the leap from Indy NXT after a successful 2024 campaign that saw him finish in the top five 11 times in the series’ 14-race schedule, three of which were victories, ending the season as vice champion.

“We are excited about running another Indy NXT Vice Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing,” commented team owner Dale Coyne.

“We have watched Jacob over the years and did an evaluation with him at the end of the 2023 season, where he showed great promise in these cars. It will be good to get back to one solid driver for the whole season again. Our plans for our second driver are coming along quite nicely, and we will have more news on that in approximately 3 weeks.” In the fall of 2023, Jacob got the call up from Dale Coyne to do an evaluation day at Sebring. Jacob adapted quickly to the pinnacle open wheel Indy Car and impressed his suitors.

“I cannot tell you how excited I am to get a full time Indy Car ride for 2025. I have worked my whole life for this opportunity,” gleamed the likeable 23-year-old Abel.

“The test at Sebring with Dale and the test this fall with Chip Ganassi, only made my resolve greater. I know it is a competitive road ahead, but we look forward to hard work and showing what we can do together as a team.”

Abel will begin his time with Dale Coyne Racing with a test session at The Thermal Club, where he will start preparing for the NTT IndyCar Series’ first race of the season at St. Petersburg, FL, on Sunday, March 2nd, with coverage beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

PREMA Launch- a New Standard for Team Launches?

thepitwindow

PREMA’s Indycar team launch on Friday made a strong statement as to the team’s serious intent to compete in IndyCar. The event was a splashy affair, hosted by motorsport commentator Will Buxton, who introduced team owner Rene Rosin, Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles. PREMA IndyCar director Piers Phillips. and PREMA’s drivers, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman. Shwartzman will be the first Israeli born driver in the series.

If you missed it, here is the link to the YouTube event. Warning- there is a 15-minute countdown at the beginning. You’ll want to fast forward through.

🔗

Romain Grosjean has signed as a reserve driver for the team, and Ryan Briscoe will take on an advisory role. The team has also added engineer Michael Cannon. All in all, the new entry to the series is beginning with quite a solid supporting lineup.

PREMA faces many obstacles in his inaugural IndyCar season, which I will discuss at a later date. Friday was a day for celebration and optimism as the American open wheel series welcomes a new membr.

The car will carry the colors of the Italian flag. I like the color scheme.

Ilott will drive car 90, and Shwartzman will be the pilot of car 83. Thye numbers reflect significant dates in the history of the team. The team began in 1983. 1990 saw PREMA’s first championship.

Friday’s program was very well done, and I would like to see other IndyCar teams do a similar season kickoff. It’s a great way to have a day of publicity for each team. It would be a boost for the smaller teams who don’t get much attention once the racing starts.

Marco Returns for Indy; Helio to Attempt Daytona 500

thepitwindow

The Andretti name stays on the grid. The rumors and speculation have been put to rest. Andretti Global confirmed that Marco Andretti will return to the team for his 20th Indianapolis 500. The 2020 Indianapolis Pole winner has eight top 10 finishes and top 5 runs in the 500. His best finish was his rookie year, when he was nipped at the line by Sam Hornish, Jr., in 2006.

Andretti’s’ last Top 10 was in 2017, an eighth-place result, and his last Top 5 was in 2014 when he ran third. In addition to his pole, Andretti also started on the outside of the front row in third.

Castroneves Tries Daytona

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 next month with Trackhouse Racing. Castroneves, a part owner of Meyer-Shank racing, will also drive in the Indianapolis 500.

I like when drivers race in different forms of racing outside their primary category, but the corporate. proprietary nature of racing today makes it such a big deal when it happens. It shouldn’t be. Drivers used to race in several different series all the time during the season.

The Field of 33

Andretti’s entry brings the entry list to 33 for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The entry list to date:

McLaren (4): O’Ward, Siegel, Lundgaard, Larson

Penske (3): Newgarden, McLaughlin, Power

ECR (3): Rossi, Rasmussen, Carpenter

Foyt (2): Ferrucci, Malukas

JHR (2): Robb, Daly

Prema (2): Ilott, Shwartzman

DRR (2): RHR, Harvey

Andretti (4): Herta, Kirkwood, Ericsson, Andretti

Ganassi (3): Simpson, Dixon, Palou

MSR (3): Rosenqvist, Armstrong, Helio

RLL (3): Rahal, DeFrancesco, Foster

DCR (2): TBA, TBA

McLaren Purchase Ends the Sam Schmidt Era

thepitwindow

First, a happy new year to everyone. The Pit Window is settled into winter headquarters, in the nick of time it appears. For those still in the north, stay safe.

The year begins with a bittersweet story. McLaren Racing has completed the purchase of Arrow McLaren Motorsports, and Sam Schmidt is no longer involved with the team. Schmidt founded Sam Schmidt Motorsports after his testing accident at Orland Walt Disney World Speedway, which left him a quadriplegic.

In 2013, he partnered with Jim Peterson, and the team became Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports. Davey Hamilton was also a partner that year, bringing HP sponsorship.

Schmidt -Peterson Motorsports sold 75% of the team to McLaren in 2021, and the name changed to Arrow McLaren SP. In 2023, the team again altered its name to the current Arrow McLaren Racing. Tony Kanaan has been named Team Principal.

The changeover is the second team ownership change since last summer, when Michael Andretti stepped down from Andretti Global.

I am sad to see Sam Schmidt leave IndyCar as a team owner. He is a profile in courage. Schmidt’s resiliency after his accident is an example for others. I wish him well, and I hope we still see him at the track.

Happy Holidays

thepitwindow2 Comments

The Pit Window wishes everyone a happy holiday, whatever you celebrate. I have so many to thank for this year.

First thanks to all the fans who read this column. You have made 2023 the third best year for readership. I appreciate your loyalty. You are thew reason I continue to do this.

Kyle McInnes– thank you for the great photos which many times were the highlight of the posts. I hope we can work together again in 2025.

Track media directors– thank you for allowing me space to cover your events. I appreciate the opportunity you afford me.

Special thanks to Michael Friedman and Kevin Toy for helping get through Le Mans.

And thanks to my life partner, Martha Strum, whose support has made all my trips possible.

I am looking forward to the 2025 IndyCar season. Let’s hope there is more good racing like we saw late last season and a lot less off-track controversy.

This will be my last post of 2024 unless something earth shattering happens in the next week.

The Pit Window plans to move to winter headquarters January 1, in time for testing at Sebring.

Have a wonderful holiday. See you next year.