IndyCar
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou Wins The Pole Position for The 107th Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou will lead the 33-car field to green for next Sunday’s 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race.
Palou’s 4-lap average of 234.217 MPH in the No. 10 American Legion Honda was the fastest qualifying run in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We went aggressive,” explained Palou. “The way to go faster here, apart from having a fast car that I knew I had, a fast engine, which I knew I had, it’s to try to start trimming the car out, taking downforce out, sliding into corners a bit more but going faster on the straights. We were the car that was more trimmed yesterday I would say and also today. It’s what we had to do. It was the way that we could fight for pole, and I’m glad that it worked.”
The pole position was the third straight in ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ for CGR. Team Ganassi is the first to win three consecutive poles at the historic race since 1991. This is the eighth all-time pole position won by the team (2022; 2021; 2017; 2015; 2008; 2002; 1993). All four CGR cars will start in the Top 10!
“This is for every Veteran who has ever served, who protect our freedoms,” said team owner Chip Ganassi. “We worked hard and never gave up. We had plenty of opportunities to quit but that’s not what we do here. That is exactly what this team is all about.”
Team Owner Chip Ganassi congratulates driver Alex Palou on winning the pole position for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. Photo: Penske Entertainment Chris Jones
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay will start in the middle of the front row after coming up 6-thousandths of a mile-an-hour slower than Palou.
“Yeah, it was very close,” said VeeKay. “Wow, very happy, but also a bit bummed. We had that shot, and I wish we could have done it. It would have been so great for the team. But also I’m bummed to be starting the Indy 500 second.”
Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist will start on the outside of the front row with a 4-lap average of 234.114 mph.
“I could feel on the run pretty much on my warmup lap that it didn’t feel as sporty as it did earlier today, so kind of had to look what went wrong,” said Rosenqvist. “But man, it’s tight, and if you don’t get it 10 out of 10, there’s going to be two other boys sitting next to you with better lap times.”
Making up the second row will be A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, who turned a 4-lap average of 233.661 in the No. 14 Homes For Troops Chevrolet who qualified fourth for the 4-time winner turned owner.
“I think our Firestone Fast Six run was unfortunately our worst run today,” said Ferrucci. “”I just made a couple of mistakes and I don’t think we trimmed enough. We were on the conservative side of things.”
Rosenqvist’s teammate Pato O’Ward will start in the middle of the front row in the No. 5 Arrow Electronics Chevrolet.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon will start on the outside of Row 2 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
“Huge day for the team,” said Dixon. “That was cool to keep the tradition alive. Three in a row for the team is fantastic and congrats to Alex and the No. 10 car group. Our last run was just so loose, just scrubbing a ton of speed. We’ll regroup and get ready for the race from here.”
Palou and Dixon’s CGR teammates Takuma Sato will start 8th in the No. 11 Deloitte Honda and defending 500 race winner Marcus Ericsson will start 10th in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda.
“Fantastic qualifying for the team,” said Sato. “Congratulations to Alex. What an amazing speed and accomplishment for the team. I wish I would have been in the Fast 6 today, but it was a great team effort.”
“Another interesting day here at the Speedway,” said Ericsson. “The No. 8 crew did a good job all weekend. P10 and we would have hoped for a bit more than that. It’s still a really solid place to start the race from and we can definitely win from there. Looking forward to working on the car to go race on Sunday. Big congrats to the whole team and the organization for being on pole. That was an incredible pole run and I’m really happy for everyone. It shows the team effort from everyone and obviously very happy for Alex. It was well deserved.”
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.
Dewease and Hammaker Get First Wins for New Car Owners at Williams Grove Speedway
Mother Nature winning the weekend as local tracks cancel events
McLaughlin goes back-to-back at Barber Motorsports Park
Macri Gets Third Straight Kauffman Classic at Port Royal; Amantea and Craig Perigo Also Score
Flick, Norris, Rudolph and Dietz Victorious at Lernerville
Borden Thrills at Port Royal; Robinson, Covert, and Hart also Score
Team Penske Penalized for St. Pete Infractions. Newgarden Stripped Of Win
Historic Stock Cars to run at Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway Cancels Saturday Program; Pivots To Flood Relief Drive
