IndyCar
Jimmie Johnson chasing history at the Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Helio Castroneves joined an elite group of winners when he crossed the yard of bricks first in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 – the four time winners club. Jimmie Johnson can join an even more exclusive club with a victory in Sunday’s Greatest Spectacle In Racing – joining racing legends A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only winners of both the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500.
Johnson joined Chip Ganassi’s INDYCAR squad last year but only ran the road and street courses as he got acclimated to the series. Johnson attended last year’s race and knew he wanted to drive in it after the cars roared into Turn 1 during the first few laps. Persuading his wife Chandra to let him run the race was the next challenge. The Aeroscreen and its safety benefits were key to accomplishing that task.
Now Johnson is here and has been fast all month, as have all five of Chip Ganassi’s Honda’s.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said Johnson when asked about CGR. “Just so thankful to be a part of the group. Watching them prepare literally since they left here last year and continually thinking of this race and it being a motto to win here before the championship.”
Longtime readers of www.pittsburghracingnow.com and listeners of the Pittsburgh Racing Now Podcast should be familiar with how CGR approaches every NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.
“It’s written in the race shop,” said Johnson. “The first goal is to win the Indianapolis 500 and then the championship. To be a part of it, to live it, to now be here experiencing it is really cool.”
Johnson has been taking time this month to soak up the experience and the energy the fans bring to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something he didn’t do much of in his Cup career.
“I think the first moment I had was before I fired up to leave to start my qualifying lap, I saw the NBC Peacock pit box that I was in last year commentating, and I sat there with so much FOMO watching these guys go,” said Johnson. “To just know what’s happened in the course of 12 months and actually be in the race car, that was a really neat moment. Instead of being so focused on just the work side, I’m enjoying the different moments. I’m letting my mind relax a little bit, look around and smell the roses type moments, which was not how I operated my Cup career.”
Not that Johnson hasn’t been focused this month on getting the No. 48 Carvana Honda performing at the highest level possible.
“I’m still very new to it all, but gaining experience and gaining confidence in what I’m feeling, gaining confidence in what I’m looking for, and gaining confidence in the adjustments we’re making on the car,” said Johnson. “I feel like the more seat time I get, the more I gain confidence in myself and understanding the car and then certainly understanding changes. I’ve had a few aha moments where I think adjustments have crossed over from what I would do with a Cup car here setup-wise to the INDYCAR.”
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who won his first 500 driving for Ganassi, thinks Johnson will not only run well but says he is a threat for the win.
“I told him when he came to INDYCAR, ‘you’re doing the hard thing (road and street courses), that is the thing that you would struggle and the good thing where you would kick everybody’s ass (ovals) you didn’t,’ so I’m so happy he’s doing it….well to a point. I don’t want him to beat me,” laughed Montoya, who also drove in NASCAR for Ganassi. “I do really believe he has a genuine shot of winning because he’s got so much experience on ovals and so much experience in long races, and a lot of pit stops and he knows how to go through the good and bad of a race.”
Team Owner Chip Ganassi, who’s Twitter hashtag is #ILikeWinners, said having Johnson join the team has helped elevate the Championship-winning organization even more.
“Unquestionably it’s a good thing for our team,” said Ganassi. “Anytime you can bring a seven-time champion of anything into your team it’s going to lift your team up. I think when Jimmie came to our team in ’21 we were Champions in ’20, and he lifted our team even though we were the Champions.”
Late Sunday afternoon Johnson can add to his Championship legacy by drinking the milk and join some very elite company in the process.
The green flag drops on the 106th Indianapolis 500 at 12:45 p.m. ET with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. on NBC and on the IMS Radio Network.
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.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 24, 2024) Team Penske is in hot water for violating NTT INDYCAR SERIES rules regarding push-to-pass and Josef Newgarden has been stripped of his win in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
Team Penske was in violation of the following “Push to Pass” parameters:
- Rule 14.19.15. An indicator to enable Push to Pass will be sent via CAN communication from the timing and scoring beacon on board the Car to the team data logger. This signal must be passed on to the ECU unmodified and uninterrupted during all Road and Street Course Events.
- Rule 14.19.16. Race Starts and any Race Restart that occurs before the lap prior to the white flag or prior to three minutes remaining in a timed Race Event will have the Push to Pass system disabled and will be enabled for a given Car once that Car reaches the alternate Start/Finish line.
The issue came to light at this past weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach when INDYCAR officials discovered the possible violation during the morning warmup. The Series made sure the advantage that was discovered could not be implemented during Sunday’s race.
The series then began an extensive review of data from the St. Petersburg race, which revealed that Team Penske manipulated the overtake system so that the No. 2, 3 and 12 cars had the ability to use Push to Pass on starts and restarts. According to the INDYCAR rulebook, use of overtake is not available during championship races until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line.
It was determined that Newgarden’s No. 2 and the No. 3 of Scott McLaughlin gained a competitive advantage by using Push to Pass on restarts while the No. 12 of Will Power did not. McLaughlin was stripped of his third-place finish and Power was docked 10-Championship points. All three entries have been fined $25,000 and will forfeit all prize money associated with the Streets of St. Petersburg race.
The integrity of the INDYCAR SERIES championship is critical to everything we do,” said INDYCAR President Jay Frye. “While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, INDYCAR discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and immediately addressed it ensuring all cars were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Beginning with this week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park, new technical inspection procedures will be in place to deter this violation.”
Team Penske issued a statement where President Tim Cindric blamed the violation on software that was not removed following a test session.
“Unfortunately, the push-to-pass software was not removed as it should have been, following recently completed hybrid testing in the Team Penske Indy cars. This software allowed for push-to-pass to be deployed during restarts at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix race, when it should not have been permitted. The No. 2 car driven by Josef Newgarden and the No. 3 car driven by Scott McLaughlin, both deployed push-to-pass on a restart, which violated INDYCAR rules. Team Penske accepts the penalties applied by INDYCAR.”
Newgarden’s disqualification handed the victory to Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward elevated PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon to the top of the Championship standings.
McLaughlin goes back-to-back at Barber Motorsports Park
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