IndyCar
Pato O’Ward wins INDYCAR road course pole position
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Arrow McLaren SP racing’s Pato O’Ward is on the pole position for Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
O’Ward earned his series-leading third pole of the season with a fast lap of 1 minute, 10.7147 seconds around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course that incorporates part of the famous IMS oval as time expired in the knockout-style session.
“We’ve had a very tough last few races,” said O’Ward. “I’m tired of being in the middle pack. We had a great test in Portland. What we found there I knew was going to help us here. So the goal is definitely to truly return where we belong, which is contend for podiums, for poles, ultimately for wins.”
Team Penske’s Will Power will start alongside O’Ward on the front row. Power’s fast lap of 1:10.7214 in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet.
Rookies Romain Grosjean and Christian Lundgaard will start from the second row. Grosjean was third at 1:10.7418 in the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Honda, while FIA Formula 2 Championship driver Lundgaard qualified fourth for his first career INDYCAR start at 1:10.7433 in the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“I know my family is asleep right now,” said Lundgaard. “I guess they will have a heart attack when they wake up in the morning. I’m enjoying every second of it. It’s so different to Europe. Just seeing fans is amazing. We’ve had one or two races this year in Formula 2 where we’ve had fans. It’s only half capacity. So to come here and see so many people near us is just awesome.”
Championship points leader Alex Palou will start from the sixth starting after a best qualifying lap of 1:10.8290 in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda.
Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon, who is second in the Championship chase, had a disastrous qualifying, spinning out on his final lap coming to the timing line to bring out a local yellow, which disqualified his fastest lap. Dixon will start a season-low 26th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda.
“It’s definitely going to make for an interesting race tomorrow,” Dixon said. “Definitely a tough day. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Dixon isn’t the only former Champ starting in the back. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden didn’t advance to the second round and posted the 14th fastest lap but will start 20th due to an engine grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.
Saturday’s lineup at Indianapolis includes an INDYCAR warm-up from 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. followed by NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying. The NASCAR Cup Series hits the track for their first practice from 11:05 a.m. to 11:55 a.m.
The green flag for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES drops at 1:00 p.m. and can be seen on NBCSN and can be heard on the IndyCar Radio Network and on SiriusXM.
(Editor’s Note: OPINION: INDYCAR Engine Grid Penalty Needs To Go!)
MOORESVILLE, NC (May 7, 2024) Team Penske has suspended four members involved in the push-to-pass cheating scandal including team President Tim Cindric.
Managing Director Ron Ruzewski, No. 2 Race Engineer Luke Mason and Senior Data Engineer Robbie Atkinson join Cindric on the sidelines for the next two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, this weekend’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES discovered that Team Penske installed software that bypassed the push-to-pass system at the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and stripped race-winner Josef Newgarden of the victory and third-place winner Scott McLaughlin of his podium finish. The Series said the software was discovered prior to the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
INDYCAR’s subsequent investigation and penalties were announced prior to last week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park and the series said it was over and done with, but not for Penske.
Team Owner Roger Penske, who also owns the series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, met with several team owners and team principals at Barber but apparently felt he needed to take further action.
“After a full and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske has determined that there were significant failures in our processes and internal communications,” Team Penske said in a statement.
“I recognize the magnitude of whaat occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades,” said Team Owner Roger Penske in the same statement. “Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologize for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”
LEEDS, AL (April 28, 2024) Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin put an emotional week in the rear-view mirror by winning Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix presented by AmFirst.
McLaughlin employed a three-stop, flat-out pedal to the floor strategy while several others attempted a two-stop strategy. McLaughlin’s move paid off with the victory, his second in-a-row at Barber.
McLaughlin, who led 58 of the 90 laps after earning the NTT P1 Award in qualifying Saturday, took the lead for the final time on Lap 76 after his final pit stop.
“Definitely one of my best drives in terms of execution and just knocking out the laps,” said McLaughlin, who had his third-place finish at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding stripped earlier in the week for illegal push-to-pass software and using it. “Very happy we could advance to the checkered flag there and bring home a W for Team Penske and for Roger (Penske).”
Will Power made it Team Penske 1-2 by finishing second in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, 1.3194 seconds behind McLaughlin.
“It was a hard-fought 1-2 for Penske,” Power said. “We were certainly fast, but obviously a lot of strategy played into that. We were able to use our speed to come out in front again.”
Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist rounded out the podium by finishing third in the No. 8 American Legion Honda, the best finish of his young career.
“Man, it was amazing,” said Lundqvist of his sixth career start. “I think for the first time ever I was not on the save fuel strategy. I was not the one being passed, which was nice.”
The next race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 11 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which kicks off the Month of May activities at IMS culminating in the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26 on the IMS oval.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 24, 2024) Scott Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing team are leading the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship standings after Team Penske was penalized for violating the series ‘push-to-pass’ parameters.
INDYCAR disqualified Josef Newgarden’s win and Scott McLaughlin’s third place finish in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and docked Will Power 10-Championship points for the infractions.
Dixon’s epic win in this past Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach vaulted him into second position in the Championship standings, 12-points behind Newgarden. That changed following Wednesday’s penalties.
Dixon now holds a 2-point lead over Andretti Global’s Colton Herta and a 12-point lead over teammate and reigning INDYCAR Champion Alex Palou.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward sits in fourth position, 15-points back, following his elevation to winner at St. Pete. Power sits in fifth position, 20-points behind Dixon despite the 10-point reduction.
Dixon heads into this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park having never won at the picturesque 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course in Birmingham Alabama.
“Barber has been interesting,” said Dixon, a six-time series Champion. “Second six times. Never won there. The goal was always to try and step on the top step again.”
Dixon is hoping a recent test will help him park the No. 9 Honda in victory lane.
“We had a really good test at Barber,” added Dixon. “Only probably half of the grid did, so it will be interesting to see how that applies.”
The first 75-minute practice session gets underway on Friday from 2:40 p.m. to 3:55 p.m. and will be live-streamed on Peacock.
McLaughlin is the defending race winner.
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McLaughlin goes back-to-back at Barber Motorsports Park
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Borden Thrills at Port Royal; Robinson, Covert, and Hart also Score
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