Tag: NTT Indycar Series

Daly to Finish Season for JHR

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Super sub Conor Daly will finish the 2024 season for Juncos Hollinger Racing, replacing Agustin Canapino in car 78

From Juncos Hollinger Racing:

Juncos Hollinger Racing

INDYCAR veteran Conor Daly will be stepping into the seat of the Juncos Hollinger Racing No. 78 for the remainder of the 2024 season.

Indianapolis, IndianaAugust 14, 2024

INDYCAR veteran Conor Daly will be stepping into the seat of the Juncos Hollinger Racing No. 78 for the remainder of the 2024 season. Welcome, Conor!

Conor Daly:

“I am extremely pleased to reunite with Ricardo Juncos after our success together in the Road To Indy! Ricardo took a chance on me when I was young and it made a huge difference in my career. There are a lot of people on this team that I’ve worked with before and I that gives me a lot of confidence. What Brad Hollinger and Ricardo have built here is extremely impressive in a short amount of time and I consider myself very lucky to get to compete for the rest of the season and earn the necessary points for this #78 Chevrolet. There are a lot of partners in this effort and I appreciate the support behind me to get back in the race seat.”

Ricardo Juncos:

“Having Conor Daly back in a JHR car after many years is like a flashback to some great memories, as we achieved a lot together. Now it’s time to focus on what’s ahead and aim for strong results in the rest of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.”

Brad Hollinger:

“Conor’s years of INDYCAR experience will help the team grow and develop the car further.”

Malukas Signs with Foyt

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In a move that has caught many by surprise, David Malukas has signed with A. J. Foyt Racing for 2025. Malukas will finish the current season with Meyer Shank Racing, where he began his season at Mid Ohio after recovering from a preseason mountain biking accident.

The move looks questionable, but if the team’s alliance with Team Penske is factored in, the Foyt ride may be a place holder until Will Power retires. his is just a guess on my part.

Malukas had also spoken with MSR and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing about 2025.

The announcement from A. J. Foyt Racing:

HOUSTON (Aug. 13, 2024) – AJ Foyt Racing has signed rising star David Malukas to drive one of the team’s NTT INDYCAR Series Chevrolet-powered Dallaras in a multi-year deal starting in 2025.

 

“I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to join AJ Foyt Racing,” Malukas said. “The team has performed very well this season and I can’t wait to get to work with them and immerse myself in that environment.”“The history and success of both AJ Foyt Racing and A.J. Foyt himself were key factors in my decision to join the team,” Malukas added.  “Everyone knows that A.J. is a legend and he was someone whose name I always heard growing up. To have the opportunity to work alongside him and drive for his team is very special. I am starting a new chapter in my INDYCAR career, and I am eager to achieve strong results with AJ Foyt Racing.”

 

Malukas, who turns 23 in September, was forced to sit out the beginning of the NTT INDYCAR Series season when he sustained torn ligaments in his left wrist from a mountain bike accident. Requiring several months to heal, Malukas returned to action in June piloting Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 66 entry. Impressive in his return, he has qualified in the top 12 in four of his last five races.

 

“David will be a great addition to AJ Foyt Racing,” said Team President Larry Foyt. “He is a fierce competitor who possesses a great deal of natural talent. I think David will be a super fit with our engineers and mechanics, and he will be an important factor as we continue to ascend the IndyCar rankings.”

 

When asked about goals for the 2025 season, the 2021 INDY NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion replied, “For me, the 2024 season was very chaotic and did not go to plan, so I am looking forward to a new beginning. I am mostly looking forward to being a part of such a special team. The recent alliance with Team Penske this season has clearly been beneficial, and I want to be sure that we build the right environment, not just for myself, but for the mechanics, engineers and everyone else who makes this all possible. In the few years I have been in INDYCAR, I have found that a strong team dynamic is crucial for success. As long as we focus on building good chemistry, I am confident that the results will follow.”

 

The 2025 NTT INDYCAR Series opens Sunday March 2nd with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which will be the first of all 17 races broadcast on FOX network television.

Photo Credits: INDYCAR Photos

It’s Race Week! Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Schedule

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Indycar returns this weekend with a Saturday late afternoon race at World Wide Technology Raceway. The race is on USA network. I would think after forcing Indycar to not race for three weeks the le least the network could do would be to televise the event on NBC.

All times on the schedule are Central time.

Vips Added to RLL Portland Lineup; Rossi Cleared to Drive-

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Juri Vips will return to Indycar at Portland as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing adds a fourth car, the 75 which Takuma Sato drove in the Indianapolis 500.

The team announcement:

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. (August 7, 2024) – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) announced today that Estonian driver Juri Vips will return to NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition for his third start with the team at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland on August 25. He competed for the team in Portland and Laguna Seca in 2023 and will pilot the No. 75 AMADA Honda in the team’s fourth entry in Portland, along with those for Graham Rahal, Pietro Fittipaldi and Christian Lundgaard.

This will mark his second race at Portland International Raceway, where he made his series debut in 2023. He started and finished 18th and used that experience to run up front the following weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca where he was sixth fastest in Practice 1 and a mere -0.05 from advancing to the Firestone Fast Six on Saturday, qualifying seventh. After a six-grid penalty in the race for an unapproved engine change, he started 13th and was collected in a multi-car crash on the opening lap but soldiered on to finish 24th.

Vips first tested an Indy car for RLL on October 12, 2022, at Sebring International Raceway and again at Barber Motorsports Park on March 13, 2023, and has performed static simulator testing for RLL since 2023. AMADA was also the primary sponsor of the No. 75 Honda-powered entry for Takuma Sato at the 2024 Indianapolis 500.

The 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season resumes with the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on August 17 which will be broadcast live on USA beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. All on-track action can be seen on NBC’s Peacock Premium streaming service. For more information about the series or team, visit http://www.indycar.com and http://www.rahal.com.

QUOTEBOARD:

BOBBY RAHAL, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: “We’re pleased to be able to run Juri in Portland for a number of reasons. For one, he showed at both Portland and Laguna Seca last year that he certainly has the pace to feature in any event he runs with us. He has done a lot of work for us in the simulator this year, which has helped us understand the hybrid system, so it’s nice to reward him for his effort. I’m hopeful that this will lead to more races for him with RLL.”

JURI VIPS, driver of the No. 75 AMADA Honda at Portland: “I’m very grateful to the team for giving me this opportunity. I have been working closely with the team on the simulator program and it has been a year since I have been in the car, but I’m confident that the experience gained last year at Portland and Laguna Seca will help me to get up to speed quickly. It will still be a very big challenge and one I am very much looking forward to.”

Alexander Rossi

Rossi Gets Thumbs Up from Indycar Medical

Arrow Mclaren announced today that Alexander Rossi has been cleared by Indycar medial to drive again, and he will be in the number 7 car at World Wide Technology Raceway the weekend of August 15- 16.

Rossi broke his left thumb in a practice crash in Toronto before the last race before the Olympic break. He had surgery the following Monday.

Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Part Ways

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Juncos Hollinger Racing announced this afternoon that the team and driver Agustin Canapino have “mutually and amicably” parted ways. Canapino, a multi time Argentinian sports car champions, came to Indycar as a rookie in 2023, and drove in 11 races in 2024.

He showed some flashes of good driving, especially considering that Canapino had no open wheel experience beforehand. Canapino was 23rd in the standings this season. In 2023, Canapino ended the year in 21st.

Controversy swirled around Canapino on a few occasions, as his rabid fans turned their social media wrath toward drivers they felt had wronged him. he sat out the race at Road Amrica in June because of the final controversy.

The team has not named a replacement for the 78 car, although Conor Dal;y tested for Juncos Hollinger at gateway last week.

The team’s statement:

“After a momentous rookie and second season in INDYCAR, Juncos Hollinger Racing and Agustin Canapino have mutually decided to part ways. We commend Agustin for taking the leap into open wheel racing with us over the last year and a half, not only learning a completely new style of racing from his impressive and storied career, but also moving to the US and learning the language to join our series. 

Both Agustin and the team have worked tirelessly to learn, grow, and succeed throughout his time at JHR, and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved together.

We thank Agustin for his time at Juncos Hollinger Racing and will be cheering him on as he continues his journey. Gracias, Agustin!“

Auto Racing in the Olympics?

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The Olympics head towards their conclusion this coming weekend, and the NBC forced auto racing moratorium will mercifully end. As I stated in my post on Monday, IMSA showed that Peacock could show a race during the international games festival. I have seen several posts on social media suggesting that auto racing should be an Olympic sport.

I disagree for many reasons. First, the Olympics games are about what can be achieved by using the human body to run, jump, throw, flex, lift, or push. Racing involves motorized assistance which is not in the Olympic spirit. While there are some events I don’t think belong in the Olympics, I get why they are there.

Auto racing as an Olympic sport would have several major hurdles. Races are not inexpensive to stage, a location needs to be secured, a neutral type of car would be required, and how many teams would be willing to allow their drivers to participate?

Racing as an Olympic sport would require an IROC type car, identically prepared spec machines, which would likely favor sports car or NASCAR drivers. The track would need to be one that could provide decent competition, and not one that creates a track position contest.

I am sure drivers would be eager to participate in a series of races in the Olympics, but would their team owners be as enthusiastic? I can’t see Red Bull allowing Max Verstappen to take two weeks off for the Olympics, or Chip Ganassi letting Scott Dixon drive for New Zealand at an Olympic racing event.

Who would finance the racing events? Would national Olympic committees want to take on the added and not small expenses of racing? Would current team sponsors be willing to contribute even more funds to the team for this effort?

If racing occurs during the Olympics, I would rather see each series conduct their own regular season events. I don’t see Olympic auto racing as a viable option for an exhibition all-star series. Let’s leave that type of thing for the off season.

Jamie Chadwick Indycar Test Set

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It was just a matter of time.

Indy NXT driver Jamie Chadwick will have her first Indycar test September 30 at Barber Motorsports Park September 30. The test with Andretti Global, her current team, comes in her second year in Indy NXT and is seen as a step toward an Indycar ride.

Chadwick, 26, is a two time champion of the European W Series, and she won her first Indy NXT race at Road America on June 9. She has shown steady improvement.

On her X account, Chadwick posted,

“Incredibly excited and a massive thank you to the team for the opportunity.”

Mahoney to Test at IMS Road Course

F2 driver Zane Mahoney will test today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Mahoney is fourth in the F2 standings.

RLL has an opening for next year as Christian Lundgaard will move to Arrow Mclaren.

Summer Break Musings

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Just one week into Indycar’s summer break and I am ready for more racing. The forced Olympic break allows the mind to drift into weird territory. Thus, today’s post is born.

First, some positive news. Alexander Rossi underwent successful surgery on his broken thumb suffered in a practice crash in Toronto. he should be back for the next race at World Wide Technology Raceway the weekend of August 16-17.

Attrition and Cautions

After the Toronto race, it seemed to me that Indycar has had more cars drop out of races this year than is usually the case. I also thought there were more caution periods and laps under yellow than in previous years.

I compared 2024 and 2023 through 12 races. To my surprise, the numbers are pretty much the same with one exception. the number of caution periods.

In the dozen races so far this season, there have been 52 caution periods compared to just 38 in 2023. However, the number of laps under yellow are not significantly different. the field has trailed the pace car for 239 laps this season. Last year after 12 races, 231 laps were run under yellow.

In spite of the ferocity of some of the crashes, injuries to drivers have been minimal, thanks to the safety built into the cars and the outstanding work of the AMR Safety Team

While there have been more full course yellow flags in the current season, 30 of the 53 caution periods have lasted five laps or less.

While it appears that fewer cars are finishing races this season, 53 cars have been sidelined before the finish in 2024. In 2023, 54 cars did not see the checkered flag. This total does not include cars involved in accidents that returned to the races. The damage bills have been significant, and we are just two thirds of the way through the year with four ovals remaining. Buy Dallara stock now.

Not So Quick Toronto Thoughts

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Toronto was arguably the most entertaining race since the Indianapolis 500. We had a driver out front all day while chaos reigned behind him. Neither numerous cautions nr a late red flag deterred Herta from a long overdue victory.

Total dominance by a driver and his team. Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood were the class of the field at Toronto today. While Herta won, Kirkwood did an equally fine job running interference for his teammate.

We have seen drivers lead several sessions during a race weekend, but they did not win the race. I don’t recall a driver leading every session plus winning the pole and the race. What dominance by Colton Herta and Andretti Global.

Herta ended his 41 race winless streak. He has been so close all year. Today the breaks fell his way.

Herta has won two of the last three poles.

Why Palou Won’t be Caught for the Title

The opportunity for Alex Palou’s three closest pursuers was ripe for the taking. Palou started 18th due to a questionable qualifying penalty. Will Power started ninth, Scott Dixon rolled off 15th, and Pato O’Ward lined up 14th. All looked to make big gains on the points leader.

We have seen this movie before. Power had the best opportunity to slice into Palou’s lead, but a penalty for avoidable contact on lap 81 dropped him to 12th.

Palou finished fourth and increased his lead to 49 points. Days like this strengthen my belief that Palou will win the title, but it will be close and may come down the final pit stop at Nashville.

Bad Day for Team Penske

In addition to Power’s troubles, Josef Newgarden started seventh and had worked his way up to third. An issue on his second stop put him deep in the field. Newgarden had worked back into the top 10, but overshoot a corner. He rejoined the race, but could only get back to 11th.

Scott Mclaughlin had the fastest Chevy all weekend, and he aqppeared to be the one car that could challenge Herta. Going side by side with Will power on lap 77, Power moved into his teammate, putting the New Zealander into the wall.

Safety

For the second week in a row, praise must go to the aeroscreen and the AMR Safety Crew.

Santino Ferrucci got airborne and into the fence, and he landed upside down like his teammate Sting Ray Robb did at Iowa. Ferrucci was unhurt. Nolan Siegel also got airborne but landed on all fours.

The safety fencing held up during Ferrucci;’s contact. It bent but flexed right back into position.

Notes

Recognition needs to go to Theo Pourchaire and Toby Sowery. Pourchaire started 26th after flying from France yesterday and driving on a track he had never seen. He finished 14th.

Sowery drove in just his second Indycar race. He started 21st, avoided the carnage, and finished 15th.

Rinus VeeKay has three consecutive top 10s. he was eighth today, fifth in race 1 at Iowa, and ninth race 2.

Juncos Hollinger racing has improved their qualifying results and are starting to show some good race results. Bothe Romain Grosjean and Agustin Canapino made the second round in qualifying. Grosjean finished ninth today.

Indycar is on an NBC imposed break for the Olympics. Then series returns August 16 and 17 at World Wide Technology Raceway.