IndyCar
Josef Newgarden edges Marcus Ericsson to win the 107th Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden passed Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson on the backstretch going into Turn 3, on the last lap, to win Sunday’s 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
“Everyone just kept asking me ‘why I haven’t won this race?’ and they look at you like you are a failure if you don’t win it and I wanted to win it so bad I knew we could, I knew we were capable,” said Newgarden. “This is a huge team effort as everybody knows.”
The last lap shootout was set-up after the race’s third red flag of the day following a caution on Lap 196. Ericsson and Santino Ferrucci split Newgarden on the restart and Ericsson was in front of Newgarden when the yellow flag flew. If NTT INDYCAR SERIES officials didn’t red flag the race, Ericsson would have back-to-back 500 wins.
“I think I did everything right behind the wheel,” said Ericsson. “I had an awesome restart. I think I caught Josef completely off guard and filled a gap and got the lead.”
Ericsson was not happy with Race Control’s decision to red flag the race for one green flag lap.
“I don’t think there were enough laps to go to do what we did,” said Ericsson. “I don’t think it’s safe to go out of the pits on cold tires for a restart when half the field is sort of still trying to get out on track when we go green. I think we did everything right today. I’m very proud of the No. 8 crew and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing. If they (INDYCAR) wanted red they should have called red earlier. I think when they kept it going, then I think they should have called it.”
The red flag mattered to Newgarden, who was the victim on the previous restart, so he knew where he wanted to be.
“One lap to go you want to be second,” said Newgarden. “It actually worked out great that I got a run on him on the backstraight I knew that if I could clear him getting into three maybe we could hold him off because he was so fast on the straights.”
A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci brought the No. 14 Homes for Troops Chevrolet home in third place for the four-time 500 winner.
“We had such a great day, I’m very happy for the boys.” said Ferrucci. “Sitting there in third it’s tough. There is nothing you can do but watch. We worked so hard to be where we were. Just bummed because I think — I’m sure Marcus thinks the same thing I do. We definitely, all three of us could have won it at any point in time. Yeah, it’s bittersweet.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou rallied for a fourth place finish after starting from the pole, leading several laps in the first half of the race, and being sent back to 30th place after being hit in the pits by Rinus Veekay midway through the race.
“It was a tough day for myself, for the team,” said Palou. “Nothing we could have done differently there on pit lane. We restarted thirtieth and came home P4. We had a really fast car and tried to make the most of it.”
Arrow McLaren Racing’s Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, rounded out the Top 5 in the No. 7 Chevy.
Palou leaves Indy with the Championship points lead (219) followed by Marcus Ericsson in 2nd, 20-points back.
The next race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Detroit Grand Prix June 4th at 3:00 p.m.
LONG BEACH, CA (April 21, 2024) Scott Dixon put on a Masterclass in winning Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Dixon started eighth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and used a combination of strategy and race craft to get the lead and hold off hard chargers Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta and reigning and two-time series Champion Alex Palou.
“That was fun,” said a smiling Dixon about his second Long Beach win. “I think it was definitely a bit sketchy in the fact that the pressure is coming hard and strong. Huge credit to the team. A big weekend for Honda, Acura, HRC. I think we had almost 200 PNC guests this weekend here.”
Dixon and race leader Will Power pitted during a caution period triggered when Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Christian Rasmussen hit the wall on Lap 15. That handed the race lead to series points leader Josef Newgarden who was followed by Marcus Ericsson, Herta, and Palou as the different strategies began to play out.
Newgarden and the drivers who elected to stay out started to hit the pits on lap 30 with Herta stretching it to lap 33. Meanwhile Dixon, Power and those who pitted earlier cycled to the front of the field before making their second and final pit stops on laps 52-53, handing the lead back to Newgarden, Herta and Palou.
The differing strategies converged after Newgarden and the rest pitted for the final time between laps 58-62. Newgarden came out of the pits in second, trailing Dixon by about three seconds with seven-lap fresher tires.
Newgarden was able to cut into Dixon’s lead but the six-time series Champion used an expert combination of push-to-pass and fuel saving to stay out front.
“I knew it was going to be tough,” said Dixon. “I think what you kind of hope for in the long run is that you get some caution laps again, which would have made it a lot easier for us. Again, the pace was pretty solid, man. We didn’t really have to push crazy amounts. It saved the tires as well. The car had plenty of pace left at the end.”
Newgarden got to Dixon’s gearbox in the hairpin turn that leads onto the frontstretch on Lap 77 but Herta made contact with the No. 2 Chevy, lifting the rear wheels off the ground sending the car into anti-stall mode.
“It seemed pretty obvious,” said Newgarden, who lost two-spots in the process. “He just misjudged it and ran into me. I’m not saying we were going to get Dixon. It was very, very difficult for me to get the run I needed to. I think traffic was going to provide me an opportunity, so that run right there, I was really excited about it.”
“I think he (Newgarden) set up pretty wide and was cutting back in and was a little slower at apex, but ultimately it’s up to me to carry the right speed into the corner and not run into the back of people, and I just misjudged it,” explained Herta.
Dixon took advantage of the extra breathing room to lock down his 57th career win, which is ten shy of A.J. Foyt’s series leading 67-victories.
“It’s one of those things that I always say hopefully when you leave the sport, you’re happy with the stats,” said Dixon. “Of course, these are big stats. This is a big deal. We’re still a long way away from that.”
The victory was Dixon’s fourth in the last six points-paying INDYCAR Series races dating back to last year.
“It’s great to win early in the season,” said Dixon. “It’s huge. It’s big for the team, big for everybody’s morale. Hopefully that stuff carries to the marquee event coming up here shortly in the 500. But right now the focus is Barber next week.”
The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst on Sunday, April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Live coverage starts at 1 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
LONG BEACH, CA (April 20, 2024) Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist is on the pole position for Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Rosenqvist’s fast lap of 1:06.1672 (107.317 mph) around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street course in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda was .0039 of a second quicker than Team Penske’s Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I had it because I had a big tank-slapper out of (Turn) 5,” said Rosenqvist. “This is a hard-fought one. It doesn’t come easy. Every lap out there, you’re flirting with the walls. That was a fun one.”
“Obviously, it’s a bit (tough) when you miss out by that much, but Felix must have done a phenomenal lap,” said Power. “I couldn’t pick anywhere where I made a mistake. It was about as good as I can do.”
This is the third front-row start for Rosenqvist in 2024, who started second at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding and started first in the non-points-paying $1-million-dollar Thermal Club Challenge last month.
Power’s teammate and series points-leader Josef Newgarden will start third in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet after a quick lap of 1:06.1059 (107.173). Joining Newgarden on the second row is California native Colton Herta, who qualified fourth at 1:06.3784 (106.734) in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global.
Herta’s Andretti Global teammate Marcus Ericsson qualified fifth at 1:06.4039 in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda. Reigning and two-time series champion Alex Palou will start sixth at 1:06.5444 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Palou’s CGR teammates Scott Dixon will start eighth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda after being eliminated in the second round of knockout-style qualifying. Marcus Armstrong will start ninth in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda. Rookies Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson will start 17th and 26th respectively.
It was a mystifying qualifying session for the Arrow McClaren Chevrolets, who were in both practice sessions leading up to qualifying. Alexander Ross was eliminated in the first round of qualifying and will start 13th on the grid in the No. 7 Chevrolet and Pato O’Ward, who led Friday practice, will start 14th in the No. 5 Chevrolet. Newcomer Theo Pourchaire will start 22nd in the No. 6 Chevrolet.
THERMAL, CA (March 24, 2024) – Alex Palou and his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team led every lap en route to victory in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Sprint for the Purse exhibition at The Thermal Club, claiming a cool $500,000 payday.
“Amazing to get the win, to get the money, just that feeling of winning again,” said Palou. “It’s what we needed.”
“Today was like a little Sunday drive out there in front all by himself,” said team owner Chip Ganassi. “He didn’t even break a sweat.”
Palou started on the pole position in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants/DHL Honda and watched in his mirrors as his competitors elected to conserve tire wear on the dusty, sandy track in the hopes of challenging the reigning Series Champion in the second of two 10-lap segments.
“It’s always tough to try and manage the tires. ‘Am I doing too much? Am I not doing enough?’,” questioned Palou. “Honestly, once you saw during the main race, especially McLaughlin and Felix, were saving tires, I was like, Okay, that’s the best thing that they could have done for us.”
Palou cruised to a 5.7929-second victory over the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet of Scott McLaughlin, who earned $350,000 for his runner-up finish.
“The first 10 laps was about trying to get some position, which I did, to get to the second, maybe set myself up for a pass after the restart,” said McLaughlin. “Alex is a pretty smart driver, as we know. I knew he’d be doing exactly what I was doing. Ultimately I didn’t have enough pace for Alex either.
It is what it is. We’ll keep working. Alex has been fast all week and they deserve the win.”
Felix Rosenqvist finished third in just his second event with Meyer Shank Racing, taking home $250,000 for his efforts.
“I’m super happy we were able to have this week because it’s kind of been a mix of a race and a test for us, just trying different things, getting to know each other more,” explained Rosenqvist. “We’ve been quick, but I feel like every time we’re out there, we’re just learning something new. This has been a huge learning experience. Also some cash at the end of the day. Super proud of Meyer Shank Racing.”
Andretti Global’s Colton Herta took the tire saving to the extreme immediately taking it easy in the first 10-lap segment, where he finished 12-seconds behind Palou, but it paid off in the second segment as the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda restarted 9th and raced up to fourth.
“I think our strategy worked,” said Herta. “We were talking about it on pure pace, maybe we can move up six spots at most. If we get a little lucky and cars have some problems, but if we save the tires, we might get a little more. Obviously, the tire advantage was pretty big, so we were able to pick off everybody on the way up there.”
Palou’s teammates Marcus Armstrong finished fifth to pick up $50,000 for he and the No. 11 Ridgeline CGR Honda team and Linus Lundqvist finished sixth in the No. 8 American Legion Honda.
Missing from the CGR was Scott Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda squad, who failed to transfer from the first heat race. Dixon made contact with Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean on the opening lap and was penalized for avoidable contact. Dixon later apologized for the contact which caught him off-guard when Grosjean slowed earlier than expected.
The next points-paying NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 21 on the streets of Long Beach, California.
Scott Dixon Good To The Last Drop at INDYCAR Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Tim Shaffer Wins Herb Scott Memorial at PPMS
Macri Romps in Sterner Memorial; Hare Gets First Career Win on His Birthday
Chip Ganassi Racing leads Cadillac Racing 1-2 at Long Beach
Felix Rosenqvist wins pole position for INDYCAR Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Borden Thrills at Port Royal; Robinson, Covert, and Hart also Score
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway Cancels Saturday Program; Pivots To Flood Relief Drive
Spithaler, Norris, Krummert, and Christian Schneider take Opening Night Wins at Lernerville Speedway
Scott Dixon Good To The Last Drop at INDYCAR Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
