Tag: NTT Indycar Series

Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race Preview

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Today’s schedule: All times Eastern

5:30 pm-6:45 pm- Indycar Practice 1

Another Indycar season comes another all too quick end Sunday in Monterey at one of the nicest tracks on the schedule. The track has made several improvements with a new p[edestrian bridge and a complete track repaving.

There is still plenty to play for this weekend as Indycar wraps up its 2023 season. Rookie of the Year, Leaders’ Circle, and third place in the standings all need to be decided. The track record is in definite jeopardy Saturday.

Repaved Track- Faster Speeds

The track has been completely repaved, and the times at yesterday’s open test show the results. Nine drivers bettered Helio Castroneves’ qualifying record of 1:07.722 set in 2000. Will power led the way with a lap at 1:07.2762.

“Very nice, very smooth,” Power said after the session. “A lot of grip. Yeah, it’s incredibly fast. Yeah, it will be a mid-six (1:06.5) in quali by the time it’s all said and done. Rubber down, mid-six.”

The full results:

Rookie of the Year

Marcus Armstrong leads Agustin Canapino by 26 points and just has to finish ahead of Canapino to win the title. A top 10 finish would be sufficient.

The rookie chase this year has been unusual. Armstrong leads despite not driving in the five oval races. Canapino is spending his first year in open wheel cars.

I think Armstrong will win the title. He signed yesterday to stay with Ganassi and drive full time.

Third Place

Josef Newgarden holds third place with 470 points. Pato O’Ward is nine points behind, and Scott McLaughlin is 22 points back in fifth. The third spot is up for grabs but given Team Penske’s strength here. i look for Newgarden to keep the position.

O’Ward’s best hope is to win the race.

Race to the Top of the Bottom

The 78 car of Agustin canapino is just two points out of the last spot for the just under $1 million reward for the top teams. The 60 which will be drive3n again by Tom Blomqvist, tenuously holds the final spot.

The 29 of Devlin DeFrancesco and the 30 with rookie Juri Vips sit just ahead. The 30 has only an eight point lead over the 78. Keep an eye on these foru cars in qualifying and the race.

With the championship decided, the final money spot is something to focus on this weekend.

Notes

Will Power has a streak of winning at least one race in 16 seasons. Will he keep the streak intact? Three other drivers- Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward, and Colton Herta-won in 2022, but have not seen Victory Circle this season.

NBC will have a 55-minute pre-race show Sunday beginning at 2:30 pm Eastern. The green flag is at 3:26 pm Eastern

Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Fast Facts

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from Indycar:

Track: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, an 11-turn, 2.238-mile permanent road course in Monterey, California
Race distance: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey 95 laps / 212.61 miles | INDY NXT by Firestone: INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race 1 & 2 (each) 35 laps / 78.33 miles / 55 minutes
Push-to-pass parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation. | INDY NXT by Firestone: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation
Firestone tire allotment: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race. Note: Teams will be allotted four sets of tires for Thursday’s Open Test. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires.
 INDY NXT by Firestone: Three new sets to be used during the event weekend. A carryover set from the Portland event may be used during the first practice.


X (formerly known as Twitter): @WeatherTechRcwy, @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #FirestoneGP, #INDYCARInstagram: @weathertechraceway, @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #FirestoneGP, #INDYCARFacebook: @WeatherTechRaceway, @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #FirestoneGP, #INDYCARTikTok: @IndyCar, #FirestoneGP, #INDYCARYouTube: @INDYCAREvent website: www.weathertechraceway.comINDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.comINDY NXT by Firestone website: www.indynxt.com

2022 race winners:NTT INDYCAR SERIESAlex Palou (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)INDY NXT by FirestoneRace 1: Sting Ray Robb (No. 2 Andretti Autosport)Race 2: Christian Rasmussen (No. 28 Andretti Autosport)
2022 NTT P1 Award winner (NTT INDYCAR SERIES): Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 1:11.6127, 112.505 mph
2022 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winners:Race 1: Sting Ray Robb (No. 2 Andretti Autosport), 1:15.7209, 106.401Race 2: Christian Rasmussen (No. 28 Andretti Autosport), 1:15.3618, 106.908 
Qualifying records:NTT INDYCAR SERIESHelio Castroneves, 1:07.722, 118.969 mph, Sept. 8, 2000INDY NXT by FirestoneMax Chilton, 1:14.2329, 108.534 mph, Sept. 12, 2015
NBC Sports race telecast: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 10, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch are the pit reporters.
Peacock Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product, while NBC’s race telecast of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey will be simulcast on the streaming service. The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey will be streamed on Peacock, with practice and qualifying being shown on INDYCAR LIVE.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman, Michael Young are the turn announcers. Ryan Myrehn and Alex Wollf are the pit reporters. The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey race (3 p.m. ET Sunday), INDY NXT Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader (3:20 p.m. ET Saturday and 12:45 p.m. ET Sunday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Thursday, Sept. 711 a.m.-4 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test
Friday, Sept. 8
1:15-2:05 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 1, INDYCAR LIVE
2:30-3:45 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1, Peacock
Saturday, Sept. 9
9:05-9:35 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Qualifying (Two 12-minute sessions / Session 1 determines the lineup for Race 1, Session 2 determines the lineup for Race 2), INDYCAR LIVE
10-11 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 (45 minutes limited guarantee), Peacock
12:30 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race 1 “Drivers Start Your Engines”12:35 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race 1 (35 laps / 78.33 miles / 55 minutes), Peacock
2 p.m. – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey NTT P1 Award qualifying (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock
Sunday, Sept. 10
9-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, Peacock
9:55 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race 2 “Drivers Start Your Engines”10 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Race 2 (35 laps / 78.33 miles / 55 minutes), Peacock
11:30 a.m. – NBC on air
12:19 p.m. – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey “Drivers, start your engines”
12:26 p.m. – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey (95 laps/212.61 miles), NBC (Live)
Race Notes:
Alex Palou became the first INDYCAR SERIES champion since 2007 to clinch the series title before the finale with his win at Portland International Raceway and looks to cap his dominating 2023 in style at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he won in 2022.There have been seven winners in 15 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2023 season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway, Indianapolis 500, Iowa Speedway-1, Iowa Speedway-2 ), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach, Streets of Nashville), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park), Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1, Streets of Detroit, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Portland), Christian Lundgaard (Streets of Toronto) and Scott Dixon (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-2, World Wide Technology Raceway).The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey will be the 26th INDYCAR SERIES race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but just the fourth since 2004.
Teo Fabi won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 1983. Alex Palou, Colton Herta and Helio Castroneves, who won at the track in 2000, are the only former winners entered in this year’s race.Thirteen INDYCAR SERIES drivers have won at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from the pole – Teo Fabi (1983), Bobby Rahal (1985), Danny Sullivan (1988), Rick Mears (1989), Danny Sullivan (1990), Michael Andretti (1991 and 1992), Paul Tracy (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Bryan Herta (1998 and 1999), Helio Castroneves (2000), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Patrick Carpentier (2003) and Colton Herta (2019 and 2021).Team Penske has won six times at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Penske’s winning drivers are Danny Sullivan (1988 and 1990), Rick Mears (1989), Paul Tracy (1993 and 1994) and Helio Castroneves (2000). Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has three wins with Bryan Herta (1998-99) and Max Papis (2001). Chip Ganassi Racing also has three wins with Alex Palou (2022), Alex Zanardi (1996) and Jimmy Vasser (1997).
Twenty-one drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Helio Castroneves has six starts, most among the entered drivers. Nine entered drivers have led laps at the track (Colton Herta 174, Helio Castroneves 92, Alex Palou 67, Will Power 23, Josef Newgarden 5, Felix Rosenqvist 5, Romain Grosjean 4, Scott Dixon 2 and Callum Ilott 1

.INDY NXT by Firestone notes:The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader will be the series’ 27th and 28th races at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. Previous INDY NXT by Firestone winners at Laguna Seca include Bryan Herta, Andre Ribeiro, Greg Moore, Tony Kanaan, Cristiano da Matta, Scott Dixon, Townsend Bell, Spencer Pigot, Rinus VeeKay and Kyle Kirkwood. Current NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie Sting Ray Robb and current INDY NXT by Firestone point leader Christian Rasmussen split the Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader in 2022.Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports is enjoying a dominant season, leading the series in wins (four), laps led (240 of 475) and top-10 finishes (11) through 12 races. Rasmussen, a native of Denmark, owns a 65-point lead over second-place Hunter McElrea of Andretti Autosport. Rasmussen can clinch the season championship by leading by at least 54 points on Saturday or maintaining his lead on Sunday.Push-to-pass could play a key strategic role at Laguna Seca as INDY NXT by Firestone drivers will have a bank of 150 seconds to use an added 50 horsepower to assist in overtaking, similar to the drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The maximum amount of time for each press of the overtake system is 15 seconds.Matteo Nannini, Reece Gold, Nolan Siegel and Louis Foster became first-time winners earlier this season. Will another talented prospect like Jacob Abel, James Roe, Kyffin Simpson or Ernie Francis Jr. score a first INDY NXT win in 2023 at Laguna Seca? 
 

Chip Gansssi Racing Signs Marcus Armstrong to Multi Year Deal

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Marcus Armstrong, the likely 2023 Indycar Rookie of the Year, signed a multiyear deal with Chip Ganassi racing to drive full time beginning in 2024. Armstrong drove only the road and street courses this season but will also drive ovals next year. The announcement from Chip Ganassi Racing:

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 7, 2023) – Chip Ganassi Racing announced today that the team has signed Marcus Armstrong to a multi-year contract extension. 

Armstrong, 23, currently leads the Rookie of the Year standings in his debut NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with 190 points. The Christchurch, New Zealand, native has competed exclusively in road and street course races. Throughout his first 11 races in the series, he has recorded three top-eight finishes and led the field for five laps.

The Kiwi will be expanding his driving duties to compete on ovals with a full season beginning next season. Armstrong will drive an INDYCAR on an oval for the first time when he tests at Texas Motor Speedway on September 13.

“I am very proud and excited to continue with Chip Ganassi Racing for next year and beyond. Together with this very talented and experienced team, I am confident we can compete at the highest level in this championship. I feel very grateful that Chip has given me the time to adapt to INDYCAR and has helped me every step of the way in what has been a good season,” said Armstrong. “I’ve spent the year learning from a great group of people, including my teammates and Dario. I’m very grateful for how much help I’ve received from each team member. With a season under my belt, I now want to turn these lessons into results. I will be racing on the ovals for the first time next year and it’s an exciting challenge that I’m confident I can learn quickly. I spent the entire month of May either in the engineering office or in the pit stand this year, trying to familiarize myself with the details of oval racing. It’s a challenge that excites me a lot.”

“Marcus Armstrong has proven in 2023 his quick adaptation to INDYCAR road and street tracks. He’s ready to be a full-time Chip Ganassi Racing INDYCAR driver,” said Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull. “Winning is integrated into his racing resume. This includes his pursuit of the 2023 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year. He knows how to win as a teammate. Next comes ovals at the highest global level. We look forward to a long-term relationship driven by growth and opportunity in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Marcus.”

Armstrong made the jump to race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Chip Ganassi Racing after competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship from 2020 to 2022 where he earned four wins and eight podiums.

Meyer Shank Signs Rosenqvist

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The team needed to get younger, but I don’t think they envisioned it happening quite so fast.

From earlier:

Pagenaud, MSR Part Ways

Pagenaud, MSR Part Ways

The announcement from Meyer Shank this morning:

Meyer Shank Racing Signs Felix Rosenqvist

Race-winning veteran joins expanded INDYCAR effort in multi-year program

Pataskala, Ohio (5 September 2023) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) will expand its NTT INDYCAR SERIES program in 2024, and has signed Felix Rosenqvist to a multi-year agreement with the team. Rosenqvist will bring his pace and experience as he teams up with Tom Blomqvist for MSR’s full-season two-car campaign. MSR is also growing its program to support a third entry for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 for Helio Castroneves.

In addition to Castroneves’ Indianapolis 500-only effort, the team recently announced that the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner has joined the MSR ownership group as a minority partner, serving as driver coach and team ambassador. 

Since joining the INDYCAR SERIES in 2019, Rosenqvist has established himself as a proven race winner who will look to continue to build his racing resume with MSR starting in 2024.

“I’m super excited to start the next chapter of my INDYCAR career together with MSR,” said Rosenqvist. “This will be a great opportunity for myself and MSR to elevate and get to the next level together. I’m also pretty excited to get to work with my old friend Tom (Blomqvist) again. I’m ready to start working together and getting the next season started.”

Next year’s INDYCAR season will see MSR have a complete reset with an all-new driver lineup as the Ohio-based team sets its sights on a successful 2024 season and beyond.

“We’re very excited to have our 2024 INDYCAR plans finalized and to welcome Felix (Rosenqvist) to the team,” said Mike Shank. “Felix has been someone that has been on our radar for quite some time now and everything lined up this year to work something out with him. It’s no secret that we’ve had a difficult season, with some things out of our control and some things in our control. I think we are all looking forward to resetting completely, starting over and getting to work.  I think Tom and Felix will work great together and really feed off of each other. We will also have Helio with us at every race to provide his feedback and advice which will be an added bonus, so I think we’re in for a solid year ahead.”

Meyer Shank Racing will close out its NTT INDYCAR SERIES campaign this coming weekend with the series finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Blomqvist will make his third INDYCAR start this weekend on board the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda in place of Simon Pagenaud at Laguna with Castroneves finishing out his final full-season INDYCAR race in the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda.

Co

Pagenaud, MSR Part Ways

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Simon Pagenaud released this message on Twitter 9(now known as X)

As Simon continues his recovery, it appears his best chance for 2024 in Indycar may be a 500 one off.

Pagenaud won the Indianapolis 500 in 2019. He also won the Indy Grand Prix that year in a great drive to overtake Scott Dixon on a wet track.

The 2016 series champion ran 207 races combined with Champ cCar and Indycar. He won 15 times in Indycar, with his first win coming at Belle Isle in 2013.

Pagenaud had success while driving for Schmidt Peterson Racing, winning the inaugural May Grand Prix on the IMS road course in 2014.

I hope we haven’t seen the last of Pagenaud in Indycar, and I wish him a full recovery.

Some Quick Thoughts on Portland

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Alex Palou didn’t need to win today’s race to clinch the championship, but in reality it was the easiest way to do it. His fifth win in 2023 sealed his second championship in three years.

Palou has nine career wins, and has finished no worse than eight this season.

Chip Ganassi Racing has won the season title three of the last four years.

The race was a decent one for Portland. There were many battles throughout the day, and the field didn’t really get strung out until after the halfway mark.

Odd Occurrences

Race control’s pattern of holding the yellow until drivers have a chance to pit has got to stop. When an incident happens and a car is in a dangerous spot, a yellow flag needs to come out immediately. If someone needs to pit so be it. It’s called the breaks of a game.

How was Palou’s move on Ericsson not a block?

It seems as if Indycar has to get tougher on lapped cars moving out of the way. Maybe a rewording of the rue is in order.

Good Drives

David Malukas improved 15 spots to eighth, and led two laps.

Josef Newgarden, fifth, and Rinus VeeKay, sixth, each improved seven positions form the start. Both escaped the first lap scramble in turn 1.

Will Power can’t seem to catch a break this season. After a consistent 2022, Power has had several difficult outings, most of which not of his own doing.

Juri Vips was the top finishing rookie in 18th.

The 29 car jumped into 21st in the Leaders’ Circle. The entrant has a 4 point blead over car 60 with one race to go.

That will do it for me this weekend. Thanks for following along. I have a very flight tomorrow morning . I will have a full weekend warp up late mday or early Tuesday.

Race Day at Portland

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It’s Race Day! Cooler temperatures and cloudy skies are on tap with only a slight chance of rain. The weather may help the cars that were fast on Friday and hurt yesterday’s fast qualifiers.

First, congratulations to Myles Rowe, who clinched the USF Pro Championship yesterday afternoon. Rowe is the first black driver to win a championship. He was the first driver in Roger Penske’ Race for Equality and Change Program. Rowe began in USF 2000 two years ago with Force Indy. He won his title driving for Pabst Racing.

I will have a more in depth piece on Rowe and IndyCar history next week.

Today’s schedule: All Times Pacific

9:30 AMBITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland Gates Open
10:20 AM – 11:15 AM INDY NXTRace Peacock
11:40 AMNTT INDYCAR SERIESDriver Introductions
12:30 PMNTT INDYCAR SERIES BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland (110 laps) NBC, Peacock.
3:15 PM – 4:05 PMUSF Pro 2000Race 3
4:20 PM – 5:00 PMUSF2000 Race 3

Here is the official starting lineup with penalties assessed and starting tire selections:

Final Practice Results

Does Graham Rahal break his victory drought today? Now that he has smashed the six year pole drought, I think it is time to erase the last remaining hole on his record.

Pit strategy is key to the race. The new early start zone implemented in 2022 made the race less interesting. iIhope for a more inriguing race today.

Alex Palou can clinch his second Indycar championship today by finishing the race with a lead of 49 points or more. If Scott Dixon wins and lead the most laps, Palou needs to finish fourth. Should the two Ganassi drivers end the day in the same spots they start the race, Palou is champion. He essentially gained a point when Dixon di not win the pole.

I will be back later tonight with a race warp up.