IndyCar
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson To Retire
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson is retiring effective December 31st.
“I have been blessed with a truly amazing career which has been jam-packed with hundreds upon hundreds of personally rewarding experiences, but the years have flown by at an alarming rate and never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that this magical ride would last as long as it has,” said Davidson, who is believed to be the only person in the world to hold the role of full-time historian for a motorsports facility.
Davidson has served at the IMS historian since January 1998 but his association with the Speedway began in 1965 when he joined the IMS Radio Network as a statistician, a role he held for nearly 32-years.
Davidson first visited the Speedway in 1964 when he saved up enough money to fly to the United States from his native England. It was during that visit that Davidson dazzled Speedway owner Tony Hulman, IMS officials and members of the racing community with his detailed, year-by-year knowledge of participants careers.
“No one has more knowledge or more appreciation of the heritage of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway than Donald Davidson,” said Roger Penske, the owner of IMS. “I have always admired Donald’s passion and dedication to the Speedway and ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’. His ability to seemingly recall every detail of IMS history is remarkable, and he is one of the greatest storytellers racing has ever seen. I want to thank Donald for all he has done for our sport and for helping bring the personalities and the legends of IMS to live for more than 50-years. Donald will always have a place at the Speedway and we wish him all the best in this next chapter of his life.”
“There will never be another Donald Davidson – he is like an encyclopedia on racing,” said team owner and four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt. “I bet he knows more about my career than I do. And I don’t think he should be allowed to retire before me. All joking aside, I wish him the best.”
“There is something very special about Donald Davidson, and I noticed it from almost the minute I met him,” said Mario Andretti. “Very quickly I realized how remarkable this man was – a walking encyclopedia of everything Indianapolis. He immediately started educating me about the ‘500’. He’s everyone’s go-to guy for information on anything of historical significance, and he can talk about it in the most compelling way, which has earned him tremendous respect.”
Davidson was inducted into the IMS Hall of Fame in 2010, the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2013 and the USAC Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2016 Davidson was present with the State of Indiana’s highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash.
“Over the last three or four years, I have begun contemplating other areas of my life for which I wish I had been able to spend more time, and this has only been further underscored with daily reminders during the challenging last few months of having to work from home.”
Fans are encouraged to share their stories on social media using the hashtag #DonaldDavidson.
IndyCar
Fox Sports drops the accelerator on INDYCAR promotion
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.
IndyCar
Dale Coyne Racing hires Jacob Abel for INDYCAR Seat
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.
IndyCar
Colton Herta Wins INDYCAR Music City Grand Prix
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.