IndyCar
Racing Notebook – Wednesday, February 12
PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Wednesday’s racing notebook has news from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as they finally get some laps on track at Circuit of the Americas. We also have news from the All-Star Circuit of Champions, IndyLights and Pirelli GT4 Americas as well as the DIRTcar Nationals.
Weather affects NTT INDYCAR SERIES Testing At Circuit of the Americas:
- Mother Nature threw a wrench into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES testing plans on Tuesday and Wednesday at Circuit of the Americas. Inclement weather on Tuesday only allowed 11-teams to turn 17-controlled laps around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course. Wednesday was a mixed bag to start the day but eventually the skies cleared-up and teams were able to turn some laps. Team Penske’s Will Power turned the fastest lap in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet at 1-minute, 46.7603-seconds (114.987 mph). COTA Test Results
Meyer Shank Racing Unveils Jack Harvey’s No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda:
- Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 AutoNation / Sirius Honda is sporting a new look for 2020. Driver Jack Harvey will debut the all new ‘magenta’ pink livery on Tuesday and Wednesday at Circuit of the Americas for the first official test of the NTT IndyCar Series. The striking design (pictured above) features the colors of team partners AutoNation and SiriusXM, with the distinctive pink livery bringing attention to the ‘Drive Pink’ cancer initiative (https://drivepink.com)
established by AutoNation.
Capstone Turbine Returning To Colton Herta’s Car in 2020:
- Capstone Turbine Corporation is returning to the sidepods of the No. 88 Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport car of Colton Herta for the 2020 NTT INDYCAR® SERIES season. The southern-California based clean energy company will serve as the primary sponsor at the upcoming COTA open test, as well as six events including the AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge at COTA and races at Texas Motor Speedway, Road America, Richmond Raceway, the streets of Toronto and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Capstone first appeared on the sophomore driver’s car in 2019 on the streets of Toronto and continued through to the season finale race where Herta scored victory from pole position.
Kyle Larson and Aaron Reutzel Score All-Star Wins in Florida:
- Kyle Larson took home the victory in Tuesday night’s Jean Lynch Classic presented by Winn-Dixie at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida. Ian Madsen finished second followed by Cory Eliason in third. The event is named in honor of Jean Lynch (Mrs. Ed Lynch Sr.).
- Aaron Reutzel continued his Florida dominance with a convincing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Winn-Dixie victory at East Bay Raceway Park on Monday evening, taking command for the first time on lap three before escaping from the rest of the field to snag the $5,000 payday. Ian Madsen finished second followed by Cory Eliason in third.
Endurance Continues Primary Sponsorship of Jarrett Andretti:
- Endurance, a leader in auto protection, is continuing their partnership with Andretti Autosport and driver Jarrett Andretti for the 2020 Pirelli GT4 Americas Season. Endurance first joined Andretti and the No. 18 McLaren in 2019 during his maiden voyage in GT4 Americas sports car competition with Andretti Autosport. Andretti’s first overall GT4 win was claimed in Endurance colors.
The No. 18 Endurance Andretti Autosport McLaren driven by Jarrett Andretti in the Pirelli GT4 Americas Series.
Mat Williamson Takes DIRTcar Nationals Win At Volusia:
- Defending Super DIRTcar Series Champion Mat Williamson picked up his first career victory at Volusia Speedway Park Tuesday night at the DIRTcar Nationals. Erick Rudolph finished second and Anthony Perrego came home third. Lernerville defending Big Block Modified Champ Brian Swartzlander finished 16th in the 30-laps feature. The DIRTcar Nationals continue through Saturday night in Barberville, Florida.
Danial Nielsen Frost Joining Andretti Autosport’s Indy Lights Team:
- Andretti Autosport is expanding their Indy Lights roster with the addition of Danial Nielsen Frost for the 2020 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season. The 18-year-old from Singapore is slated to slide into the No. 68 machine for the championship team. Frost made his first start in USF2000 at Road America in 2018 and finished his first season with five top-10 finishes. Frost competed in the 2019 Indy Pro 2000 Championship where he finished fifth in the point standings and captured two wins and six podiums.
SPEEDWAY, IN (May 9, 2026) – Christian Lundgaard finally finished a race ahead of Alex Palou, winning Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Lundgaard passed David Malukas on lap 68 as the pair staged a thrilling battle from turn 3 through the turns 5/6 chicane, where the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet driver completed the pass.
“It probably looks more spectacular from the outside than it really did inside the helmet,” explained Lundgaard, who led 20 of the 85-laps. “I knew I had one chance, maybe two on David at that time. I tried to set him up for 2 and actually make the slingshot to be on the inside for turn 4, but he was pretty slow kind of through the kink of 3. I thought, okay, F it, I’m going to stay on the outside and see how it goes.”
The victory was the second career win for Lundgaard and his third podium of the season, his first two were finishes behind Palou.
Malukas came home in second place, 4.6713 seconds behind Lundgaard.
“You know, I could be a little bit more aggressive and push him wide, whatever, but I think it was fair racing, and he made a proper move,” said Malukas. “I came in thinking this was going to be our hardest race of the whole season, and it ended up being our best result yet, which it was just fantastic.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda to tie his season-best result.
“I was good at starting stints,” explained Rahal. “I could really close the gap there, but later in the stints the rear would go off. We’ve just got a little work to do. I think missing practice, half of it at least, kind of put us on our back foot with the rear grip and never quite got there. But look, I thought we put a great race together, great strategy, great calls by Brian, Eve, and the entire group, and great stops.”
Penske’s Josef Newgarden finished fourth followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who rounded out the top 5 and maintained his Championship points lead over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood.
It didn’t take long for lots of on-track action as Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, who started third, locked up his brakes going into turn 1 and made contact with Arrow McLaren Racing’s Pato O’Ward, who was running in second behind Palou, who started on the pole.
Rosenqvist spun O’Ward into the grass and in the ensuing mayhem behind him several cars made contact. Newgarden couldn’t get slowed down and nerfed Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, turning the No. 9 Honda to the right, directly into Caio Collet. The full-field caution slowed the rest of the field as the AMR Safety Team tended to the pileup. All three were able to continue as did Rosenqvist and O’Ward.
The reshuffled lineup found Palou leading Malukas in second place but that didn’t last long at Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood quickly out-braked the No. 12 Chevy going into turn one.
That wasn’t the only incident of the day, which had teams scrambling on strategy.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi suffered a hybrid failure on lap 20 and came to rest on the main straightway. Race control mysteriously called for a local caution in that area despite Rossi being stuck in the car. A frustrated Rossi could be seen waving his steering wheel from the cockpit but it took him climbing out of the car to bring out the full course caution.
Cautions breed cautions and on lap 28 Sting Ray Robb got into Marcus Armstrong and when Kyffin Simpson tried to avoid that contact, Rosenqvist made contact with the No. 8 Sunoco Honda, sending the No. 60 up into the air bringing out another caution.
LONG BEACH, CA (April 19, 2026) – A great pit stop helped Alex Palou pass Felix Rosenqvist in the pits and Palou did the rest, winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“Incredible,” said Palou, who picked up his third win of the season and 22nd of his IndyCar career. “Feel so, so lucky with the opportunity I had to win the 500 last year, the Long Beach GP this year, it just feels like I’m living on this amazing cloud of happiness.”
Rosenqvist was out front when the caution flag flew on Lap 57 for debris in turn four, which set up the showdown between the Meyer Shank Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing pit crews.
“This full-course yellow put everything on that pit stop,” said Palou. “The guys did an incredible job once again.”
“Having the pit location and the pit crew we have, it certainly was on the top of our minds coming down pit lane knowing we have a shot at getting the win here,” said Barry Wanser, No. 10 Team Manager. “Again, the guys came through.”
“That last pit cycle was kind of the defining moment,” said Rosenqvist, who led a race-high 51-laps. “I don’t even think we had that bad of a stop. We had to come around the 14. I don’t know if Alex had an open in. Details like that matter. It didn’t seem like a super slow stop, but he probably nailed it or his crew.”
Despite falling short of a win, Rosenqvist said there were plenty of positives to take away from the team’s trip to the West Coast.
“I think all in all we got to be happy as a weekend for us at Meyer Shank Racing. We had a win yesterday with Nick in IMSA. We had a pole there as well, then a pole here and a P2. We just fell short of a grand slam.”
Scott Dixon finished third in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda, giving team owner Chip Ganassi two cars on the podium and the 6-time series Champion his best finish of the season
“Huge weekend for the Ganassi cars,” said Dixon. “I think probably one of the best for qualifying between all us, which was really good. It was nice just to have a clean weekend, no major issues, no damage, no mess-ups or anything like that. That was a lot of fun.”
Palou and Dixon’s teammate Kyffin Simpson brought the No. 8 Sunoco Honda home in tenth place, so all three CGR cars finished in the Top 10.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood finished fourth after starting third and gave up the Championship lead to Palou. Kirkwood now trails the four-time Series Champion by 17-points.
Pato O’Ward rounded out the Top 5 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Next up for the IndyCar Series is two days of testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April 28-29 as teams get ready for the Indianapolis 500.
The next race is the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 9, on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at IMS, which kicks off the Month of May.
LONG BEACH, CA (April 18,, 2026) – Felix Rosenqvist is on the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach after turning a fast lap of of 1 minute, 7.4635 seconds in the No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda.
The pole capped a great day for Meyer Shank Racing who on the IMSA race on Saturday.
“So great to put it on pole here and it’s been a long time, so it feels good,” said Rosenqvist. “But what a day for Meyer Shank Racing with the win in the IMSA race today and now the pole for the IndyCar race.”
Pato O’Ward, Rosenqvist’s good friend and former teammate, will start from the front row after qualifying a season-best second at 1:07.5076 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
“That was nerve-wracking to watch my ole buddy Pato do his run, and I wasn’t sure if we’d get it,” said Rosenqvist. “But the SiriusXM Green Day Acura has been great and hope we can have a good day tomorrow.”
“This is by far the best qualifying day I’ve had,” said O’Ward. “I’ve been happy with the car I’ve been given from practice one. Hats off to Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy. I know we’re leading their pack.”
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou will start from the third position in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda with 2026 Championship points leader Kyle Kirkwood right beside in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Andretti Global Honda.
David Malukas will start fifth in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, the best qualifying car for Team Penske.
Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon will start sixth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The qualifying effort was Dixon’s best of 2026.
Next up is a 30-minute warmup Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).
The 90-lap race around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile iconic temporary street circuit starts at 5:30 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).
Gravel Grabs the Morgan Cup
Christian Lundgaard wins the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS
Connor Zilisch tracks down best friend for NASCAR O’Reilly win at The Glen
Watkins Glen not kind to Kris Wright and McAnally Hilgemann Racing
Kaden Honeycutt outduels Connor Zilisch for first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win
Alex Palou wins Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach; Scott Dixon finishes 3rd
Tyler Reddick keeps the magic alive with overtime NASCAR Cup win at Kansas
Felix Rosenqvist wins Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach pole position
Taylor Gray wins eventful NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Kansas
