Tag: NTT Indycar Series

BITNILE.COM New Race Sponsor at Portland

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PORTLAND, Ore. (Aug. 1, 2023) – BITNILE.COM has been announced as the title sponsor of the annual NTT INDYCAR SERIES event at Portland International Raceway (PIR), Sept. 1-3, 2023. The Labor Day weekend motorsport festival headlined by the 110-lap penultimate race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will be called the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland.  

Starting at 10 a.m. PT tomorrow (Aug. 2), Single Day tickets go on sale for the three-day event at PIR featuring non-stop action with 10 total races from five different series. Ticket prices start as low as $25 for Single Day General Admission and $70 for Single Day Grandstand seats. Three-day tickets remain available for purchase and offer the best value. Fans should visit raceportland.com/indycar to buy tickets for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland weekend. 

BITNILE.COM, owned by BitNile Metaverse, Inc., is a rapidly growing virtual world with over 1.4 million engaged users. Earlier this year, the platform debuted social gaming with the launch of roulette, offering users an opportunity to play for fun or real money prizes, and the site also allows gamers the opportunity to drive on virtual race tracks including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

BITNILE.COM also sponsors Ed Carpenter Racing, an NTT INDYCAR SERIES team that will be represented by Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and Rinus VeeKay in the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland.

“I firmly believe that the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland embodies the essence of innovation and technology, mirroring the cutting-edge nature of the metaverse world we operate,” stated Milton “Todd” Ault III, executive chairman of BitNile.com and Ault Alliance. “By sponsoring this thrilling event at Portland International Raceway, we aim to share our passion for technological advancement with the world, creating an electrifying experience for IndyCar fans both at the track and in the metaverse.”

The 2023 BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland marks the 29th running of this event, adding to the rich history of open-wheel racing in the Rose City. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES headlines the weekend and takes the green flag Sunday, Sept. 3, in a late-season race that could decide and finalize the championship chase. The series points leader after the completion of the past four Portland rounds (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022) has gone on to claim the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new title sponsor and partner BITNILE.COM to the team!” said Jerry Jensen, general manager of Green Savoree Portland, which owns and operates the event at PIR. “BITNILE.COM is already such a great supporter of IndyCar racing through their sponsorship of Ed Carpenter Racing. With this new partnership, we look forward to growing this event, building off a strong foundation of classic IndyCar races dating back to 1984, with invaluable support from BITNILE.COM.”

This year’s field will feature returning race winners Scott McLaughlin (2022), Alex Palou (2021) and Will Power (2019). The grid is anticipated to also boast other notable drivers such as 10-year Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean and, including Power, eight Indianapolis 500 winners: this year’s winner Josef Newgarden, four-time winner Helio Castroneves, 2008 winner and six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi.

The three top open-wheel development series that feed into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will also race at PIR on Labor Day weekend. INDY NXT will battle on Sunday, Sept. 3, for 35 laps on the 1.964-mile, 12-turn permanent road course. Drivers from USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires and USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires will contend for championships as both series conclude their seasons with tripleheader races across the weekend. Additionally, the U.S. Touring Car Championship will add exciting sports car action to the event lineup.

Children 12 and under receive free general admission to the event. This also includes complimentary access to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Paddock throughout the weekend when accompanied by a ticketed adult. PIR is located less than a tenth of a mile from a public transit stop – the Delta Park/Vanport MAX Station on TriMet’s MAX Yellow Line – making a trip to the track exceptionally affordable for families.
For all ticket pricing, grandstand locations and additional festival information, visit raceportland.com/indycar. Stay up to speed on the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland on social media all year long by following #PortlandGP.
About BitNile Metaverse, Inc.:Founded in 2011, BitNile Metaverse (Nasdaq: BNMV) owns 100% of BNI, including the BitNile.com metaverse platform. The Platform, which went live to the public on March 1, 2023, allows users to engage with a new social networking community and purchase both digital and physical products while playing 3D immersive games. In addition to BitNile.com, Inc., BitNile Metaverse also owns three non-core subsidiaries either directly or indirectly: approximately 66% of Wolf Energy Services Inc. (OTCQB: WOEN) indirectly; 100% of Zest Labs, Inc. directly; and approximately 89% of Agora Digital Holdings Inc. directly. BitNile Metaverse also owns approximately 70% of White River Energy Corp (OTCQB: WTRV).
About BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland:Portland International Raceway (PIR) is the home of the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland. PIR is a 1.964-mile, 12-turn permanent road course owned by the City of Portland and operated under Portland Parks & Recreation. Opened in 1960 to host sports car and drag racing, the 268-acre property hosts over 550 events annually including automotive and motorcycle road racing, motocross, cruise-ins and other special events including the Rose Cup Races. PIR has been the site of many memorable INDYCAR races. Al Unser Jr. won the inaugural one in 1984, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned in 2018 after an 11-year absence with 2017 and 2020 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato taking the checkered flag. The Father’s Day race of 1986 featured Mario Andretti passing his son Michael on the last lap and winning by 0.070 of a second. The closest three-way road racing finish in INDYCAR SERIES history took place at PIR in 1997 when the top three were covered by just 0.055 of a second. In 2021, Alex Palou’s victory in Portland propelled him to win the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. The Grand Prix of Portland is owned and operated by Green Savoree Portland, LLC, which also promotes NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pacific Office Automation 147 event at PIR (June 2-3, 2023) and whose affiliates own and operate three additional INDYCAR SERIES races:  Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding (March 3-5, 2023), The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid (June 30-July 2, 2023) and Honda Indy Toronto (July 14-16, 2023). 

Lundqvist Subs for Pagenaud at Nashville

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Finally, Linus Lundqvist gets his shot. Lundqvist, the 2022 Indy NXT (Indy Lights) champion, will substitue for Simon Pagenaud in the 60 car for Meyer Shank Racing this weekendat Nashville.

Simon Pagenaud issues this statement this morning:

The news release from Meyer Shank Racing:

Lundqvist to Drive for Meyer Shank Racing in Nashville INDYCAR Weekend

Lundqvist will substitute for Simon Pagenaud in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda

Pataskala, Ohio (31 July 2023) – As Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) heads to the fourth street circuit on the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar, the Ohio-based team will welcome Linus Lundqvist to its lineup alongside Helio Castroneves for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sunday (12:00pm ET, NBC, SiriusXM Ch. 160). 

Lundqvist is stepping in for Simon Pagenaud, who continues to recover from a practice accident at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course earlier this month. While he continues to improve, he has been advised by the INDYCAR Medical Team to not participate in this weekend’s event in Nashville.

Following the Mid-Ohio accident, MSR has continued to campaign the No. 60 Honda-powered entry, with the team’s IMSA Championship winning driver Tom Blomqvist making his INDYCAR debut on the streets of Toronto while Conor Daly stepped in on short notice to compete in both the Mid-Ohio race and the Iowa Doubleheader.

Now, the 2022 INDY NXT by Firestone Champion will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES race debut with MSR as he heads back to a track that he has seen much success at. Lundqvist excelled in INDY NXT competition, scoring third in the championship in his rookie campaign in 2021 and backing that up with a run to the title in 2022 on the strength of five wins and nine podium finishes.

In addition to his success in INDYCAR’s feeder series, Lundqvist has had two INDYCAR tests this year at Texas Motor Speedway and Sebring International Raceway.

Lundqvist heads into the Nashville event with some recent familiarity of the track, having swept the 2022 event with a pole and victory.

In honor of heading to the ‘Music City,’ the No. 60 machine will once again carry the all-new SiriusXM Channel, CARRIE’S COUNTRY – XM Ch. 60 – which is a specialty channel with music curated by the eight-time GRAMMY winner, Carrie Underwood.

Lundqvist will join INDYCAR SERIES veteran Castroneves who will drive the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda around the 2.17-mile street course. Castroneves has shown well in his two outings in Nashville, finishing ninth in 2021. Last year’s event saw Castroneves start from the back of the field following an engine change, but the Brazilian driver worked his way up to a 13th place finish. 

The sister MSR car driven by Pagenaud, finished inside the top ten in 2022, finishing ninth after starting 13th. 

The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will air live on, Sunday, July 30th on NBC starting at 12:00pm ET. All Practice sessions and Qualifying can be viewed on Peacock. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage on SXM Ch. 160. 

Meyer Shank Racing Team Quotes:

Linus Lundqvist:

“This is a moment I’ve been dreaming of literally since the start of my career. I could not be more excited about the prospect of finally making my NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut; I am extremely grateful to Meyer Shank Racing for this opportunity. This will be an incredible experience, but also the toughest challenge of my life. Sitting on the sidelines all year, it would be a massive task to join any championship towards the end of the season – let alone the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on the streets of Nashville. There’s been very little time to prepare, but I feel like the sheer excitement of this moment will make up for some of that. Of course, working alongside Helio – one of the true legends of this sport – will also be a huge asset. Last but not least, I would like to wish Simon Pagenaud a continued speedy recovery. While fully aware of everything I have to learn this weekend, I will do my very best to make him and everyone else on the team proud in Music City.”

Helio Castroneves: 

“I’m super excited to head back to Nashville, it’s such a fun city and it has such great energy. The race has always been interesting and it’s very important to stay clean and consistent. We’ve had a pretty good car there the last two years, so I’m hoping that when we go back we’ll be even better. It will be an interesting weekend to have Linus with us as well, he is new to all of this, just like Tom (Blomqvist) was in Toronto. There will be a lot to learn for him, so we’ll see how he adapts.”

Iowa Race 2- Quick Thoughts

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Josef Newgarden is the Indycar Ovalmeister with his fifth straight oval win. Newgarden has won seven of the last nine Indycar oval races, and he was one suspension failure away from winninf eightn of nine. The finalovalof 2023 comes at gateway in about a month. He is defintiely the favorite going into that race as well.

A;ex Palou managed to put some salve on the bleeding ofm his point lead. His thrid place finish today cuts his lead to 80 points as the series heads to tracks more to his liking at Nashville and the IMS road course. Palou tied his worst finish of the year yesterday finishing eighth.

Today’s race was a much better show than we saw yesterday. There were battles all through the field, with teamates going after each other, and several different challengers for the lead. The teams had he opportubnity overnight to put their cars in race trim, which helped the racing a lot. Iowa should move qualifying to Friday to make Saturday’s race better. And to make both races better, run them at night.

Race Control

I am most confused by calls from race control today. Sting Ray Robb exited the pits with an unsecured tire, which rolled onto the track at pit exit. It seemed that there was no immediate yellow. Several cars, including Newgarden, dodged the errant tire.

The stewards also looked inconsistent on wall contact. Agustin canapinombrushed the wall and brought out the first yellow of the day. later, takuma sato had wall contact, and no caution was thrown. With 12 laps to go, Ryan hunter-reay’s wall contact brough out a yellow, which led to more confusion,.

Race control decided not to open the pits except to let the lapped cars drive through. I admire their effort to finish under green, but this is not how they handled a similar late caution period at Indianapolis. The decision cost some cars the opportunity to get fresh tires for the final few laps. We have seen that move pay dividends at Iowa in the past.

In 2018 at Iowa, a crash late in the race left a green flag finish in doubt. rave vontrol told the teams that they would go back to green. several cars pitted for new rubber. The race finished under yellow, costing those that pitted several positions.

I felt a red was called for given race control’s previous actions at other places.

I have little argument with whatever calls they make as long they are consistent. I may not always agree with the call, but if the stewards are consistent, I’m fine with what they do.

Great Drives

Felix Rosenqvist finished fourth after starting 16th, but he was the last serious challenger to Josef Newgarden just before the last caution. His finish, paired with Pato O’Ward’s third place on Saturday, gave Arrow McLaren two top five finishes for the weekend.

Alex Palou had his best Iowa finish in third. Palou started 12th, and languished n the bottom half of the top 10 or just outside of it most of the day. Palou went a lap down a couple of times, but still managed to end up on the podium. Tesults like today are the kind that win titles.

The Points Battle

A weekend that could have seen Palou’s mhuge lead in the championship demolished turned out to be not so bad. He entered the weekend 117 points ahead of second place. Palou heads to the next race with an 80 point lead. He lost just one third of his lead.

The remaining schedule favors Palou. With just one oval left in 2023, Palou has the edge in tracks where he is stronger than Newgarden. I think Palou will still win the title.

Thanks for following along this weekend. I will be ay IMS this coming Friday and saturday for the IMSA test. I am excited for the sports var series tocome to the Speedway.

Iowa Race 2

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Today’s schedule -Times are Eastern Iowa is in the Central Time Zone

10 am: Gates Open

11:25 am: Cars come around 1 time for systems check

12 pm: @zacbrownband Concert

1:43 pm: Driver Intros

2:13 pm: Invocation

2:14 pm: Anthem

2:25 pm: Command

2:30 pm: Green Flag

5:15 pm: @edsheeran Concert

From last night:

Quick Thoughts- Qualifying and Race 1

https://thepitwindow.blog/2023/07/22/quick-thoughts-qualifying-and-race-1/

Starting lineup for part 2 of the Josef Newgarden Invitational”

This lineup looks as if it will produce a more interesting race than we saw on Saturday.

Quick Thoughts- Qualifying and Race 1

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First- Will Power. Not much more to say about his prowess as a qualifier. He swept the poles today for the second year in a row. 70 career poles is a record that may never be touched. Each year it seems to take Power longer to win his first pole of the season. In 2022 he won just three poles- two at iowa and at Laguna Seca.

The Race

Today was the first time I have watched a race from Iowa on television in eight years. It is definitely a better race to watch at the track. I found today’s race a bit of a snoozer. The Penske domination was fascinating but Newgarden even made a sham of the competiton between the three drivers.

At home I missed a lot of the crazy action that happens all around the track every lap. NBC having comnmercial breaks every four laps or so did not help. They also lost a lot of laps coming back from breaks as they felt a need to show the countryside around the track. Yes, it is beautiful. Keep those shots in prerace.

I will give Josef Newgarden his due. he owns this track. Heck, he owns oval racing. Only three other drivers have won four ovals in a row, and they are legndary ones- A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Nigel Mansell. That is aver nice club to a part of.

Alex Palou did not get hurt too badly today. His eighth place finish cot him 19 points of his lead. I’m not sure that he will get any of the points back tomorrow, but if he keeps the lead in the 90s, he will be fine.

If Pato O’Ward’s crew can figure out how to get his car to pass someone, he might have a chance tomorrow. Tomorrow and at gateway are his last two best hots at winning this year.

Chip Ganassi Racing again placed all four drivers in the top 10. Marcus Ericsson was fourth, Scott Dixon sixth Alex Palou eighth, and Takuma Sato ninth. Ericsson had one of the best drives of the race.

Tomorrow’s starting lineup should make for a more interesting race with Newgarden starting seventh and O’Ward lining up 11th. The cars will be in race trim tomorrow as well.

Thanks for following along today. See you tomorrow.