IndyCar
Andretti Autosport Atop Speed Charts After Day 1 Of Qualifying At Indy
SPEEDWAY, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Andretti Autosport swept the first four spots of Indy 500 qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Marco Andretti posted the fastest 4-lap average of 231.351 mph in the No. 98 U.S. Concrete Honda. Andretti did it later than his teammates as he drew the 28th qualifying attempt.
2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay was second quickest with a 4-lap average of 231.330 mph in the No. 28 DHL Honda.
2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi was third fastest in the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda at 231.268 mph.
James Hinchcliffe, who is running a partial schedule in the No. 29 Genesys Honda, was fourth at 231.195.
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner and series points leader, spoiled the Andretti party posting the fifth fastest average 231.155 mph.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus Veekay was sixth fastest at 231.114 mph.
“Great run this morning, very happy with that,” said Veekay. “I’m happy!”
Rookie Alex Palou of Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh was seventh fastest at 213.034 mph.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) teammates Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato, the 2017 500 winner, rounded out positions eight and nine with speeds of 230.822 mph and 230.792 respectively.
Positions one through nine will come back on Sunday to fight it out for the pole position in the “Fast Nine Shootout”, which will set the lineup for the first three rows.
“We can play tomorrow, that’s the fun part,” said Andretti. “We’re going to be playing with three of our teammates, Dixon, a few other guys. Tomorrow’s going to definitely be a different day, so we’ve already been thinking about that, and it’s going to be a 10-to-15-mile-an-hour wind which makes it hard when you’re at these downforce levels.”
Positions 10 through 33 (rows 4 through 11) won’t have that chance as the speeds they set on Saturday will determine their starting position.
Just missing out on the fast nine were Andretti’s Colton Herta in tenth (230.775), Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson in eleventh (230.566) and RLL with Citrone/Buhl Autosport’s Spencer Pigot in twelfth (230.539).
One team you will not see fighting for the pole on Sunday is Team Penske. Penske’s Josef Newgarden, the defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion will start 13th (230.296). Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 winner, will start 22nd. 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud will start 25th and three-time 500 winner (2001, 2002, 2009) Helio Castroneves will roll off 28th.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – The NTT INDYCAR SERIES and NBC Network announced on Tuesday a multi-year extension to the media rights of the open wheel series.
NBC Sports will continue to be the exclusive home of the Indianapolis 500 and will provide coverage of all NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, qualifying, practices and Indy Lights races across its linear, digital and streaming platforms, including Peacock. Terms of the deal were not announced.
“NBC Sports is proud to extend its partnership with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and continue to serve as the exclusive home of the most competitive open-wheel racing series in the world and ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’” said Jon Miller, NBC Sports.
“NBC Sports has been the ideal partner for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, bringing our bold and audacious style of racing to a significantly larger domestic audience and fully leveraging the power and scale of the Indianapolis 500,” said Mark Miles, President and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp. “This new deal represents a significant expansion of our network TV exposure and sets us up for continued growth and success alongside a committed, innovative and world-class broadcast partner.”
INDYCAR and NBC are enjoying strong ratings for the 2021. Ratings are up 30% this year.
As part of the agreement, 13 races will be broadcast on NBC. USA Network and Peacock Premium will show the remaining races. Telemundo Deportes will provide Spanish-language coverage of the season-opening race, the Indianapolis 500 and the season finale.
Peacock will stream all races on NBC and USA Network and will continue as the streaming home of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying and practices sessions, Indy Lights races and full-event replays. Peacock will stream two races exclusively, which will be announced at a later date.
NASHVILLE, TN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chase Elliott joined the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) for their season finale at Nashville Fairgrounds and took home the checkered flag beating Tony Stewart and his father Bill Elliott in the feature. The win was the first series victory for the younger Elliott.
Chase Elliott was on the inside with Stewart on the outside on a restart with 7-laps-to-go followed by Bill Elliott and Bobby Labonte in Row 2.
Chase Elliott beat Stewart into turn one and two with Bill Elliott and Bobby Labonte side-by-side for third.
Caution came out with 5-laps-to-go when Paul Tracy made contact with Marco Andretti, sending Andretti into a spin after picking up three spots following the restart.
Chase Elliott got the jump on Stewart on the restart and held on to pick up the win. Stewart finished second and took home the inaugural series Championship.
“Man it was so much fun,” said Chase Elliott. “I had a ball. I got to race against two of my heroes tonight and I got to race against Dad there throughout the race and those are moments that I’ll cherish forever. Thanks to Ray (Evernham, Series co-owner) and Tony (Stewart, Series co-owner) and I appreciate NAPA being on the car.”
NASCAR Hall-of-famer Bill Elliott, 65, finished third and picked up a win in the first heat race where he started side-by-side with his son Chase.
“I messed up in one not getting all the stuff (marbles) off my tires,” said Bill Elliott, the 1988 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. “Man I tell you it was a lot of fun. I knew the way the tires were on these cars and the way Chase manages his stuff he was going to be tough to beat.”
“I don’t know what lit a fire under him tonight,” said Chase Elliott. “But he was as aggressive as I have seen him in years. It was amazing and a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be between he and I but he got a little high going into (turn) one.”
The win was also special for the Elliott Family as they were able to park the No. 94 in Victory Lane. Casey Elliott, the late son of legendary engine builder Ernie Elliott, raced the No. 94 in the ARCA and Busch (now Xfinity) Series before his life was cut short by cancer.
“Obviously a special number too,” said Chase Elliott. “My late Cousin Casey Elliott ran the 94 for years and years and it’s always special to run that number and I’m glad we were able to get it in Victory Lane at Nashville.”
“How could you ask for more than to finish between two Elliott’s, that’s pretty bad-ass in itself,” said Stewart. “To win this Championship is awesome. I really appreciate Marcus Lemonis and everyone at Camping World for stepping up and helping us get this thing off the ground. To be the last guy to win an IROC Championship and the first one to win an SRX Championship means a lot.”
LEXINGTON, OH (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden picked up his, and Team Penske’s, first win of 2021 holding off Marcus Ericsson to win Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
Newgarden started on the pole position and led 73-of-80-laps to pick up his first win since the 2020 season finale at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“This team has been doing the job,” said Newgarden. “Everyone has been giving me a hard time, asking what’s up with us not winning a race. But I don’t think these people at Team Penske could have done anything different. We’ve been in the game almost every race, had great performance. It’s great to seal a win here finally.”
Newgarden spoiled a tremendous afternoon for Chip Ganassi Racing, the winningest INDYCAR team at Mid-Ohio.
CGR’s Ericsson finished second, 0.8790-seconds behind Newgarden. The second place finish was Ericsson’s seventh top-10 finish of 2021.
“We were hunting him down there,” said Ericsson. “He (Newgarden) was really struggling with his tires the last five laps. Just catching him quickly. Another lap or two would be even better, but I’ll take second today.”
Ericsson’s CGR teammate Alex Palou and Scott Dixon finished third and fourth respectively to give Chip Ganassi three cars in the top 5.
“It’s always good to start P7 and you finish on the podium,” said Palou. “Yeah, I think today was a good result.”
“I think it was a great day, great day for the team, to have me, Alex and Scott, P2, P3 and P4,” said Ericsson. “It’s a strong result. Shows how strong we are at the moment”
Palou remains the Championship points leader, 39 points ahead of Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP. Dixon is third, 56 points behind Palou. Newgarden remained fourth, 69 points back of the leader, and Ericsson jumped three positions to take fifth in the standings, 104 points behind Palou.
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