IndyCar
Chip Ganassi Racing Chasing 5-in-a-row This Weekend At Iowa
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing is looking to keep their winning streak going as the team heads into this weekend’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader at Iowa Speedway.
CGR has won the first four races of the season. Scott Dixon parked the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda in Victory Lane at Texas, the Indianapolis GP and race one at Road America. Felix Rosenqvist parked the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda in Victory Lane in race two at Road America.
“Winning the first four races (as a team) was nice, but now our focus turns to winning this weekend at Iowa,” said Dixon, a 5-time series Champion.
“It’s obviously nice to have the win, as well, in the bank from Elkhart (Lake),” said Rosenqvist. “It definitely gives some confidence for me and the NTT DATA crew coming forward in the season here, after having done a couple of good races now.”
The winning streak is not unprecedented. Sebastian Bourdais won the first four races of the season in 2006 for Newman Haas Racing.
Al Unser Sr won five in-a-row for Retzloff in 1968 and he did it again two years later in the Johnny Lightning car for Vel Meletich.
AJ Foyt won the first seven races of the 1964 season driving for Anstead-Thompson Racing. Team Penske won 7 in-a-row in 1994 between Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr and Paul Tracy.
CGR won 7-in-a-row back in the 1998 season with Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi.
It won’t be easy to keep the streak going at Iowa. The 7/8-mile oval is a fast track and because of its length teams cannot afford to make mistakes.
“You need to be prepared, unload fast and work quick because everything is happening so quickly with two races in two days,” said Dixon, who leads the series Championship standing by 54-points over Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta. “There is no room for mistakes. I know the PNC Bank No. 9 team will be up for it.”
“I had a really good weekend there last year with a strong qualifying and was running well in the race,” said Marcus Ericsson, driver of the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda for CGR. “I was going for a podium even until I had a late pit entry violation that caused me a penalty. So, I feel like I have some unfinished business.”
“It’s cool to be back in Iowa,” said Rosenqvist “It’s definitely one of my favorite ovals from last year. It’s a really good track for racing, and there’s always fun side-by-side racing there.”
At-track schedule (all times Eastern):
FRIDAY, JULY 17
2-3:30 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, NBC Sports Gold (Live)
5:30 p.m.: Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps (Lap 1/Race; Lap 2/Race 2), NBC Sports Gold (Live)
8:30 p.m.: NBCSN on air
9:10 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines”
9:15 p.m.: Iowa INDYCAR 250s Race 1 (250 laps/218.75 miles), NBCSN (Live)
SATURDAY, JULY 18
3:30-4:30 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, NBC Sports Gold
8:30 p.m.: NBCSN on air
8:40 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines”
8:45 p.m.: Iowa INDYCAR 250s Race 1 (250 laps/218.75 miles), NBCSN (Live)
LOS ANGELES, CA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Fox Sports, the new television partner for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, is aggressively getting the word out that INDYCAR has a new home for 2025.
Sunday Fox Sports debuted the first promotional ad during the network’s NFL coverage, featuring two-time Series Champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden.
This is the first of three promotional ads that Fox Sports will be rolling out between now and the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2, 2025. The remaining two spots will feature three-time and reigning series Champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing and the series most-popular driver Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren.
PLAINFIELD, IL (January 13, 2025) – Dale Coyne Racing is adding INDY NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion Jacob Abel to it’s 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES roster.
Abel will drive the No. 51 DCR Honda for the entire 2025 season beginning in March with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
“We are excited about running another Indy NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing,” said team owner Dale Coyne.
Abel, a Louisville Kentucky native, won three races in 2024 and finished on the podium in 10-of-14-races, which placed him second in the final standings – a steady progression from his 5th and 8th place Championship finishes the previous two seasons.
“It’s a lifelong dream come true… I can’t thank everyone who’s helped out along the way enough,” said Abel, who impressed in an evaluation day at Sebring last fall.
“We have watched Jacob over the years and did an evaluation test with him at the end of the 2023 season, where he showed great promise in these cars,” said Coyne. “It will be good to run one driver in the #51 car for the whole season, so that we can work on the consistency needed in the highly competitive NTT IndyCar Series.”
“I’ve had a great relationship with Dale for the last couple of years, and I’m very thankful for the confidence he has in me,” said Abel. “The team has some very experienced personnel joining and returning to the program, and I have full confidence they will deliver a great race car and help me learn the ropes of the NTT IndyCar Series. It’s going to be a fun but challenging journey, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Coyne said talks are progressing to fill the other vacant seat in the DCR stable.
“Our plans for our second driver are coming along quite nicely, and we will have more news on that in approximately three weeks.”
The 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season kicks off February 28 – March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
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.”
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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