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Racing Notebook – Tuesday, February 4

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A.J. Foyt Racing

PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Tuesday’s racing notebook includes news from A.J. Foyt Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR and Front Row Motorsports.

Bourdais and Kellett Complete A.J. Foyt Racing 2020 Lineup:

  • Four-time open wheel Champion Sebastien Bourdais and rookie Dalton Kellett are going to split the driving duties on the No. 14 Chevrolet on the road courses.  Bourdais is schedule to run four races: the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Portland.  Kellett will make his IndyCar debut at the Circuit of the Americas and will be behind the wheel at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, the Duel in Detroit, Elkhart Lake, Toronto, Mid-Ohio and Monterey, CA.  Kellett will compete in a third Foyt car at the Indy 500.  Tony Kanaan is going to drive the car on the five oval races (Indy 500, Texas Indy 600, Indy Richmond 300, Iowa 300 and Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway).

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Partners with Zeiss:

  • Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is partnering with Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions for their IndyCar program.  Zeiss is an internationally leading technology company operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics.  RLL will utilize the T-SCAN 20 3D Scanning System that features new camera technology and high-quality Zeiss optics which increase the precision with cutting-edge 3D scanner technology.  The reliability of system ensures consistently efficient measuring processes.
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Pennzoil to Sponsor the NASCAR Xfinity Road Course Race At Indy:

  • NASCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are revealing details about the Xfinity Series inaugural race on the IMS road course on Saturday, July 4th.  The Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard will consist of 62-laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course that includes portions of the famed 2.5-mile oval.  Stage lengths will be 20-laps, 20-laps and 22-laps.  NASCAR driver Matt Di Benedetto tested both the 14-turn course and the 12-turn configuration on January 22 and his feedback was influential in NASCAR’s decision to use the 14-turn layout.

Front Row Motorsports announces “We Care” Campaign:

  • Front Row Motorsports (FRM) today announced a new season-long marketing initiative called “We Care”.  FRM has partnered with www.ClassicCars.com and the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF) to launch the “We Care: Safe Driving” campaign. Running through the spring NASCAR race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, FRM along with drivers Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek and Todd Gilliland will focus on supporting and sharing messaging to “leave the speeding to the professionals.”  Speed is a factor in 26% of all fatal traffic crashes, killing more than 9,000 people every year.

Cosmetic Gasket extends partnership with NASCAR:

  • NASCAR and Cometic Gasket, Inc. announced today an expansion of their multi-year official partnership, designating the company the sponsor of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series™ pole award. The Cometic Gasket Pole Award will be awarded to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series driver with the fastest qualifying time each week, starting at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 14. Cometic Gasket’s relationship with NASCAR dates back nearly a decade when it became the “Official Gasket of NASCAR®.”

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Colton Herta Wins INDYCAR Music City Grand Prix

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Penske Entertainment: Chris Jones

LEBANON, TN (September 15, 2024) – Andretti Global’s Colton Herta passed Pato O’Ward with four laps to go in the Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix to claim his first oval NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory of his career.

“I’m so happy,” said Herta, whose No. 26 Gainbridge Honda crossed the finish line 1.8206-seconds ahead of O’Ward. “We knew we were going to have a hot rod in the race. It’s been an amazing year.”

The victory also vaulted Herta a couple of spots up in the final standings of the year.

“I just saw I finished second in the championship, which is awesome,” said Herta. “Hoping to do a little bit better next year.”

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The second place finish was the sixth of the year for O’Ward and the twenty-sixth of his career and said afterwards he was lucky to finish there.

“Yeah, I wish I could have done it a little bit harder on him,” said O’Ward. “Those reds (Firestone alternate tires) at the end, I couldn’t see straight with so much vibrations. Could barely talk to the team with just how much was going on in the car. I think one more lap, Josef would have gotten me for sure. I was dying.”

Josef Newgarden finished third in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevy.  The Tennessee native was not in the Championship hunt after being stripped of a season-opening win at St. Petersburg after he and teammate Scott McLaughlin were found to have illegal software that allowed them to use push-to-pass when others couldn’t.

“Team did a great job today,” said Newgarden. “They put a good car on the track, a great car. We’re going to come back next year and hopefully have a little different cadence would be nice. I’m going to be happy to leave all this in 2024.”

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished 11th and claimed his second straight Championship and third overall in four years.  Dario Franchitti was the last driver to win three championships in four year, winning three straight for CGR from 2009-2011.

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Kirkwood wins INDYCAR Nashville pole; Ganassi’s Palou starts 24th

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Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

LEBANON TN (September 14, 2024) – Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale, the Music City Grand Prix, from the pole position.

Kirkwood’s two-lap average in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of 201.520 mph (47.5189) was .0395-seconds faster than Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who will start on the outside of the front row in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist starts third in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda with Championship contender Will Power starting alongside in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet for Team Penske.  Power trails Championship leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing by 33-points and must finish third or better to challenge Palou for the title.

“We’ll do what we can in the race tomorrow,” said Power, a two-time series Champion. “You know how these things roll. If it’s our day, it will be our day. If not, we’ll try again next year.”

Palou, the reigning series Champion, qualified 15th in the No. 10 DHL Honda, but will start 24th due to a 9-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change following the last race in Milwaukee.

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“The first lap wasn’t too bad, then the second lap was really, really bad,” said Palou, himself a two-time series Champion. “Not what we wanted, not what we needed.”

Palou needs to finish ninth or better to secure his third title in the last four seasons. He led the opening practice on Saturday at 199.862.

“The car was really good this morning. Hopefully we can make up some spots. It’s time to see what we can do.”

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen, Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi and Rossi’s teammate Nolan Siegel also received the nine-spot grid penalty for changing their engines.

The 206-lap season finale starts Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, and will be televised by NBC, Peacock, Universo, and can be heard on the INDYCAR Radio Network.

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INDYCAR Drivers Frustrated With Racing At Iowa Speedway

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Penske Entertainment: James Black

NEWTON, IA (July 14, 2024) – NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers feel something needs to be done to make the Hy-Vee Doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway as exciting on-track as it has been historically.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t bummed about the race and how it raced,” said Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing, who finished second Friday night. “Really tough to get that second lane working, compared to I don’t know how many on-track passes we had last year, probably not even a 10th of that. That was a bit frustrating because I thought we had a very strong car, definitely a car that was capable of winning. Just no way to get around a car.”

In 2023 for race one there were 1,502 total passes, of which 319 were for position.  Conversely in race one of 2024 there were 192-total passes Saturday night, 100 of those were for position.

“Unfortunately I don’t think our car and our formula works super well for this type of track adjustment,” said Saturday night’s third place finisher Josef Newgarden about the partial track repave. “We’re different than a Cup car. We’ve developed our car differently than they have. It doesn’t always mesh. It definitely didn’t mesh tonight.”

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“Bit of a shame that couldn’t really do anything to pass or to do anything,” said Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, who finished second on Sunday. “It’s the most boring thing I’ve ever done. It was yesterday, as well. It’s a shame that we couldn’t really put on a better show. I think everybody will agree that it was a very boring race to drive.”

INDYCAR reduced downforce levels by about 450-pounds heading into the race weekend and tire supplier Firestone came with new right side tires after heat-related issues during a recent test session at the track.  The combination led to a parade-like race on Saturday and Sunday.

“I feel like we go into it and not do the right amount of study or whatnot to get it done and to get it to work,” said Saturday night’s winner Scott McLaughlin, who finished third on Sunday. “That’s not a shot at the sport, not a shot at anything. It’s working together with the amazing people and the geniuses we have up and down pit lane. It’s just a matter of making it work.”

“I think INDYCAR could go to work with downforce levels, working with Firestone on a few other things,” McLaughlin explained. “But you just can’t blame the track because at the end of the day they have to repave this at some time.”

“We went from the best oval race we would have all season to potentially the least amount of passing,” said Sunday’s winner Will Power.  “Maybe just a softer tire might just work with this downforce level. Just a softer tire. If it degrades, people go out. You can roll to the outside.  I don’t know what the answer is, but we certainly got to do something for next year.”

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