You might say Nashville was transformed into New Zealand East, at least for one day.

New Zealand native Scott Dixon held off fellow countryman Scott McLaughlin to win Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

In so doing, Dixon passed Mario Andretti and moved into second place all by himself on IndyCar’s all-time wins list with his 53^rd career win. Dixon is now just 14 wins behind all-time wins leader A.J. Foyt, with 67 wins.

But more time-sensitive, so to speak, with his second win of the season, Dixon is now in second place in the IndyCar point standings, just six points behind series leader and Australian native Will Power. Dixon is hoping to earn his seventh IndyCar championship, which would tie him for most IndyCar titles with Foyt.

“I knew the car was super-fast, we proved that in the warmup,” said Dixon, who started 14th. “I think we did 45 or 50 laps on the last set of tires, the last stop we didn’t even take tires on the last stop. Man, Nashville is just so awesome.”

“We were worried about (McLaughlin) because of the standings at the moment, he was super-fast as well and honestly he had fresh tires. I was a bit of a sitting duck. If there was another lap or two more, it would have been tough (to win). Congrats to him on a great weekend and hopefully it was good for us for points.”

Pole sitter McLaughlin finished second, followed by Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta. Sixth through 10^th were Josef Newgarden, Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Lundgaard, Jack Harvey and Simon Pagenaud.

McLaughlin agreed with his fellow Kiwi, Dixon, lamenting that the final outcome would potentially have been different if he had just one thing go his way:

“One lap,” McLaughlin said when asked what might have made the difference in the race. “We were alongside crossing the finish line. Man, we were 16^thon that last pit exchange, had an awesome restart. It was unreal. Good on fuel, good power, just fell short at the end. But congrats to Scotty. I’ve always dreamed of racing him to the finish.

“I hate coming in second. It is what it is. I learned a lot today. It was a great points weekend. We’ll keep pushing the last three races.”

Speaking of the points, Power remains No. 1, Dixon moves into second, six points behind, Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson drops to third place (-12), Newgarden is fourth (-22), Palou is fifth (-33), McLaughlin is sixth (-56) and Pato O’Ward is seventh (-59).

Palou had his best showing since it was revealed on July 12 that he had signed with McLaren Racing for next season, which prompted his current team owner, Chip Ganassi, to file a breach of contract lawsuit against him.

“Any day you’re on the podium is a good weekend,” Palou said. “It was a tough day. We got some points back for the championship.”

Another Year Another 8 Cautions

In a sense, you can’t blame some folks who attended the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville if thought they were coming to see an IndyCar race, but they wound up watching a demolition derby.

Just like last year’s race, there were eight caution periods, including one red flag race stoppage, for 36 laps. That means nearly half of the 80-lap race on the temporary street course was contested under a yellow caution flag.

Nearly a quarter of the drivers in the 26-car field were involved in crashes before the halfway point of the race: Simona De Silvestro (her third and likely final start of the season for Paretta Autosport), Will Power, Dalton Kellett, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal, Devlin DeFrancesco and Takuma Sato.

All of them, with the exception of Power and Rahal, saw their days ended early.

Rahal’s team was able to get him back on track on Lap 54, but he didn’t even complete one lap when he slid into the wall and then was hit from behind by Rinus VeeKay, who had just exited the pits after service.

Pato O’Ward is Perhaps Nashville’s Biggest Loser

The musical chairs of the NTT IndyCar Series championship battle definitely hurt one of the seven drivers still in contention during Sunday’s race.

Pato O’Ward, who came into the race in fifth position, 46 points behind points leader Will Power, was involved in a crash with Graham Rahal on Lap 27 of the 80-lap event.

O’Ward left Nashville dropping two spots to seventh place, 59 points behind points leader Will Power.

As for Rahal, he ran into the back of O’Ward after another driver ahead of the two of them checked up.

Here’s how Rahal explained the incident:

“The most frustrating part for me is I don’t understand the check-up. It seemed like somebody ahead had a problem and I hit Pato exceptionally hard. I’m really not sure what the checkup was, to be honest. I’m sorry to Pato. For us, it broke the rear tow link. It’s disappointed but these are racing incidents that happen.”

Here’s O’Ward’s point of view on the incident:

“I don’t know who caused the check-up,” O’Ward said. “I saw the cars slowing down so I had to get on the brakes. If not, what Graham did to me, I was going to do to Will. Sadly, there’s only one way to look at it. It was a big enough hit to break probably a gear or something in the gear box. I couldn’t get it into any gear and that’s our day.”

Rossi, Herta Stage Impressive Comebacks

Two drivers were involved in early crashes, but were able to get going after repairs were made on pit road and wound up with decent finishes – although it’s likely many didn’t think either driver would salvage a good showing at the time.

First was Alexander Rossi, who won last week at Indianapolis, breaking a 49-race winless streak.

Last weekend’s winner has spun and caused a full course yellow.@AlexanderRossi is now a lap down.

WATCH LIVE: @NBC, @CNBC and @PeacockTV.#INDYCAR // #MusicCityGP pic.twitter.com/z7wS01G7PQ

Rossi bounced back from his early mishap Sunday to finish a very strong fourth, just barely missing a podium finish.

And then there was Colton Herta, who dominated last year’s race at Nashville before crashing out with six laps to go.

Herta looked like his day was over very early with another crash at Nashville, but his team was able to quickly repair front end damage and he was able to cycle back for an impressive fifth-place finish, right behind Rossi.

Contact between Colton Herta and Dalton Kellett sends Herta into the tire barrier!

Not the start the No. 26 team needed today. #INDYCAR

📺 : @nbc, @CNBC and @peacockTV
💻 : https://t.co/sruFujAguH pic.twitter.com/ESlxforp1Y

“I thought if we could get our lap back, we seemed to still have a fast race car even with some of the damage and we could move forward,” Herta said. “I really have to give it to the guys. They did such a good job in the pits. Both our pit stops, we gained so many stops.

“I think our second stop, we gained two or three stops that put us up into eighth and then we were able to battle up into the top five. I’m happy with how we came back, not only starting from the back but also being a lap down. It doesn’t happen too often, so I’m real happy how it went.”

NOTES: Jimmie Johnson spun coming off the bridge with eight laps to go, ending his day. It marked the second time he’s wrecked in Nashville, also wrecking big and hard in last year’s race as well. Johnson finished 18th. Johnson has now finished 18^thor worse in 20 of his 26 IndyCar starts to date, including Sunday. … Will Power had problems with the dashboard lights on his car, so he had to do a lot of things manually or by feel. Power ended up the last driver on the lead lap, finishing 11^th. … Scott McLaughlin gave his parents, Wayne and Diane McLaughlin, a great going away present. They return to their New Zealand home after several weeks in the U.S. watching their son perform in IndyCar racing for the first time. During their three-plus weeks in the U.S. and Canada, they watched their son win at Mid-Ohio, finish ninth at Toronto, 22^nd in the first Iowa race, third in the second Iowa race, fourth at Indianapolis GP and runner-up on Sunday. … During the red flag race stoppage late in the race, McLaughlin came over his team radio and thanked his team members, saying it was the best race car he’s ever had. … Sunday marked the conclusion of five races in a 22-day period. Now, only three races remain on the schedule: August 20 at Gateway (suburban St. Louis), followed by Portland (Sept. 4) and the season finale at Laguna Seca (Sept. 11).

Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

Source: Read Full Article

The post How Dixon\u2019s Indy Win in Nashville Puts Him in Title Contention appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

Like the old Doobie Brothers hit, IndyCar is “Takin’ It To The Streets” again this weekend in the second annual Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, held on a temporary street course in downtown Nashville.

Last year’s inaugural race was one of the most frustrating events ever for Andretti Autosport driver Colton Herta. He started from the pole, then dominated the race, leading nearly half of the 80 laps—39 to be exact.

Disaster struck, however, with six laps to go as Herta tried to dive-bomb his way to close in on race leader and eventual winner Marcus Ericsson. Herta came into Turn 9 too hot, locked up his brakes and slammed into the tire barrier, ending his day with a dismal 19th-place finish and dropping him to eighth in the standings.

While he would go on to win the season’s last two races (Laguna Seca and Long Beach), it would be too little, too late for the second-generation IndyCar driver, who—due to that wreck and three other DNFs in the 16-race season—ultimately finished fifth in the final season standings.

Now, Herta wants to avenge last year’s mishap and win Sunday’s event—which is the fifth race in the last 22 days (IndyCar’s next race is August 20 near St. Louis).

“So much,” Herta said when asked how much he wants to avenge last year’s disaster. “It’s an awesome market for IndyCar. I wish it came sooner. It’s so much fun to be downtown, right there in the heart of Nashville, and an awesome track with its unique challenges compared to a lot of the street courses that we go to, and it seems like we’re going to have a lot more unique challenges this weekend if it ends up raining like the forecast says.”

Herta has become an ace on permanent road courses and temporary street courses. Of his seven career IndyCar wins, five have been on permanent road layouts (Austin, twice at Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, and the Indianapolis road course), with wins on the street courses at St. Petersburg and Long Beach.

“It’s an awesome market for IndyCar. I wish it came sooner. It’s so much fun to be downtown, right there in the heart of Nashville.”

In addition, he earned the pole and finished second in the most recent road course event, just a few weeks ago at Toronto. All told, in addition to his seven wins, Herta has four additional podium finishes, all on road or street course layouts.

That’s why he’s looking forward to returning to Nashville, but with a much better outcome this year than what happened last year.

“I think we have a great car for it,” Herta said of Nashville. “The damping thing is so important at every track we go to, especially the ones that are so bumpy, and I think we have a great damping program.

“Yeah, it just seems to work. At all the street circuits we go to, we seem to have a phenomenal car to drive. Hopefully this kind of continues. We had a great car last year, but you never know what you’re going to get when you come back to a street circuit and there’s some changes to the track. I’m hoping it’s as close to what it was last year this year, and we should be in good shape.”

Herta, who is rumored to potentially be headed to Formula One perhaps as early as next season or, more realistically, in 2024, has exceptional talent. But he’s also made several mistakes—like last year at Nashville—that have cost him dearly, particularly when it comes to having a chance at winning the championship.

“Yeah, yeah, it is (frustrating),” Herta said. “The most important thing is we’ve had speed pretty much everywhere we’ve gone. I think the Indy 500 was kind of the outlier where we weren’t great, qualified 25th, and weren’t that great in the race (finished 30th, completed just 129 of 200 laps due to a throttle issue).

“I think everywhere else I’ve been very comfortable with the car and very confident, but for one reason or another, we just can’t get a roll going. I thought after Toronto we would get it going, then we had an issue in Iowa (finished 24th in the first race and 12th in the second race of the weekend doubleheader there). We weren’t really incredibly fast in Iowa anyway. I think we still could have finished in the top 10.

“Then obviously come to Indy and leading the race and that happens (gearbox broke, leaving him with a 24th-place finish).”

Herta has just one win, two podiums and two poles this season. For all the talent he possesses, he easily should have a lot more in each of those categories. While his championship hopes are over, he still has some things he can improve upon and use as a springboard for an even better year in 2023.

“I’d like to just finish out the season and just be in the top 5 in every race and just get kind of the ball really for what we need with no more issues and no problems and just finish off the year strong,” he said.

Not being in contention for the title with just under one-quarter of the season still left to go only adds to Herta’s angst and frustration, knowing that if he hadn’t had so many DNFs or had perhaps better pace in several other races, he could potentially be right in the middle of the pack of drivers challenging for the championship.

“Realistically we’re not going to win the championship, it’s too far out of reach,” Herta said. “Maybe if we have an amazing string of the rest of the races, we can maybe creep into the top 5, but that would be a pretty big ask. I’ll just kind of use the end of this season to focus on the next season and kind of butt through it.

“(We’re just going to) try to get those top 5s every single race. Hopefully we’ve got some good races coming up for us. St. Louis last year, we were leading when we had a hashed off brake; Nashville, that went—I don’t want to talk about that one, but we were fast there; and Laguna, we’ve won two times there in the last year. We’ve got really good races coming up for us, we just need to maximize what we can do on those weekends.

So yeah, the confidence is still there. I understand these things happen and stuff, but unfortunately it’s happened quite frequently and a lot this year. We need to kind of be on top of it, make sure we understand what’s going wrong so it doesn’t happen again.”

Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

Source: Read Full Article

The post IndyCar Driver Colton Herta Hopes for Better Result at Nashville Than Last Year appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

Andretti Autosport’s loss may become a huge gain for the future fortunes of A.J. Foyt Racing, which announced Wednesday it had signed 2021 Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood to be one of its two full-time drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2022.

“We feel like we’ve got a great driver, and we’re going to put the best around him that we can and go see what we can do,” Larry Foyt, president of A.J. Foyt Racing, said when asked by Autoweek in a Wednesday morning teleconference. “And then just continue to build our resources, build our team, and when you’ve got a guy like Kyle that not only has shown how capable he is, he’s got a great attitude, people want to work with that. I think it’s going to help us attract the best people we can.”

Kirkwood, 23, has signed a one-year contract to drive AJFR’s legendary No. 14 car in the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series. Kirkwood could become a significant cog in bringing the Foyt brand back to prominence.

“Oh, man, I’m absolutely over the moon right now to be driving for A.J. Foyt Racing in the No. 14, filling in some really big shoes with (Sebastien) Bourdais leaving,” Kirkwood said. “I’m at a loss for words because I’m ecstatic.

“It’s been my entire career building up to this moment, all the way from karting. I started when I was four years old, and I’ve always had dreams of making it to IndyCar, racing the Indy 500 and competing for a championship, and to do it with a legendary team like AJ Foyt Racing is absolutely incredible.”

The Jupiter, Florida native has had an exceptional career to date, earning championships in the USF2000 series (2018), Indy Pro 2000 series (2019) and Indy Lights this past season. He also won the Formula 4 US championship in 2017 and the F3 Americas title in 2018.

Kirkwood had been expected to move to IndyCar with Andretti Autosport next season. That was predicated upon Colton Herta, who Kirkwood was slated to replace. securing a ride with a planned Andretti-owned team in Formula 1.

However, the F1 deal fell apart late last month, so Herta will return to his spot in Andretti Autosport’s IndyCar lineup. Also, by that point, the Andretti camp had already committed to signing another of its promising young drivers, Devlin DeFrancesco, to join its IndyCar stable for next season. DeFrancesco was winless in the 2021 Indy Lights season and finished sixth in the season standings.

In so doing, Andretti Autosport gave Kirkwood, who had been in the team’s Indy Lights program along with DeFrancesco, permission to seek out another deal and team for 2022.

When Kirkwood became available, Larry Foyt quickly pounced.

“I was surprised that Kyle didn’t have a full-time deal,” Foyt said. “It was just one of those things everyone kind of assumed he was locked up where he was. When I found out that he was available, it was kind of a no-brainer for us. The kid deserves to be in a full-time IndyCar ride, and obviously with Seb (Sebastien Bourdais) doing his sports car things, there were some conflicts there, and I think we really wanted a full-time driver in the 14 car. It just really worked out perfectly for us.”

Kirkwood added, telling Autoweek, “It came together pretty last minute. When the Andretti thing fell through … Andretti allowed us to go venture out and see our options, and we were actually pretty flattered on how many options we had.

Kirkwood is expected to be paired with Canadian driver Dalton Kellett,

“The way it came about with Larry is we had a conversation. I really liked what he was talking about and how he wanted to progress with the team, and I thought it was a perfect scenario where I can grow as a driver, first year coming into IndyCar, and potentially we can all grow as a team together. When you have kind of this atmosphere where everyone is excited, there’s a lot of progression, big things happen.”

Kirkwood is expected to be paired with Canadian driver Dalton Kellett, who struggled in 2021 in his first season with A.J. Foyt Racing, finishing 25th in the final standings. Kellett’s best finish was 12th at Gateway.

While Kellett has not officially re-signed with the Foyt camp, it’s expected he will do so soon.

“I imagine we’ll get it done here pretty soon,” Larry Foyt said. “We’re just ironing out some details. I think the intention from both sides is there. I think we’ll get it done, and excited to see how he continues to grow with his driving. He definitely showed some great pace on some of the ovals and did a great job at some of the street courses, as well.

“He’s still got some to learn, but he’s doing a great job, and I think we’ll get the deal done.”

Kirkwood’s addition will be a key part for AJFR, as 2022 is expected to be a very pivotal year for the organization, which is already in the process hiring a number of new crew members.

The organization has struggled for much of the past 25 years. It’s last championships in that period came in its first season of the Indy Racing League in 1996, when Foyt driver Scott Sharp (as well as Buzz Calkins) tied for the championship, as well as in 1998 when Swedish driver Kenny Brack won the IRL title (and finished second the following year).

Since then, the highest finishing drivers in a season for AJFR have been Eliseo Salazar (4th in 2000 and 5th in 2001) and Airton Dare (9th in 2002). The organization’s last win came in 2013 (Takuma Sato).

While moving up to IndyCar will be a big jump, Kirkwood also brings a great deal of promise to AJFR. He dominated Indy Lights competition this past season with 10 wins,14 podiums and six poles in the 20-race schedule.

Even so, it was a close battle for the championship, as he defeated 20-year-old David Malukas by just 13 points. Malukas, who is expected to sign with Dale Coyne Racing and also make the jump to IndyCar next season, was almost as dominating as Kirkwood was in Indy Lights this past season, earning seven wins, 16 podiums and seven poles.

By comparison, DeFrancesco failed to win any races in Indy Lights in 2021, garnering just two podium finishes and ultimately finished sixth in the final season standings.

“The thing with Devlin is not something that just happened overnight,” Andretti said in a conference call last Thursday. “This is something that we’ve been working on. It’s been like a three-year program. It’s just Devlin getting the seat was always in the plan before Kyle was even around.

“It’s not like we picked Devlin over Kyle; it was always going to be Devlin … unfortunately at the moment we don’t have a spot for Kyle, but that’s not to say we won’t in the future. We’re definitely going to watch him, and I’m hoping he gets a full-time ride to get experience, and we’ll see how that goes. The goal is to get him back in our family one day again.”

As for Kirkwood’s expected pairing with Kellett, the latter just completed his first full IndyCar season in 2021, finished 23rd in final standings for AJFR. His best finish was 12th at Gateway. He also had five DNFs, including two due to crashes and three due to engine issues.

Former four-time IndyCar champ Sebastien Bourdais left AJFR at the end of this past season and will drive full-time in IMSA next season for Chip Ganassi Racing. However, Bourdais has said he’s open to driving a potential part-time IndyCar schedule if the right situation develops, which could play into AJFR’s hopes of potentially having a third team – albeit part-time – in 2022 if sponsorship becomes available.

But as for Kirkwood, he’s ready to go.

“When I got out of the Indy Lights car and got into the IndyCar, I was like, man, this isn’t that big of a deal,” Kirkwood said. “Within the first three laps I was in the IndyCar (test) at Sebring I was within a second of what (Alexander) Rossi did there previously in the test when they tested back in I think June or July.

“I mean, it’s not a massive jump, and I think I’ll come up to pace pretty quickly. I’ve done that in multiple cars, so I think that’s a strong suit of mine, which is nice because coming into IndyCar against a lot of people that have tons of experience at the tracks, the car, racing it because now I’m actually going to have to do some fuel saving and some tire strategy or strategy in general.

“There’s a lot of new things, but I think I’m ready for it.”

And as for driving for a four-time Indy 500 champ and one of the most legendary names in motorsports, Kirkwood told Autoweek, “It’s exciting. I remember watching Foyt Racing when I was a kid, six, seven years old, in IndyCar, and man, it’s such a historic and legendary team.

“They’ve obviously done really well in their past, maybe not in the past couple years, but we want to bring it back up to speed and contend for wins because we’re all hungry, we’re all racing drivers at the end of the day. Larry was, as well. A.J. was, too.

“We’re racers through and through, so we’re going to do everything in our power to go back to the top.”

Follow Autoweek correspondent Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

Source: Read Full Article

The post A.J. Foyt Racing Plans Future IndyCar Hopes on Lights Champ Kyle Kirkwood appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

Former Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg has decided against the prospect of a career in the NTT IndyCar Series.

The 34-year-old German racer, who lost his full-time Formula 1 seat at Renault at the end of 2019 and is now Aston Martin’s reserve, tested for the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama, recently.

Hulkenberg, who has made 179 career F1 starts, said IndyCar is beast.

“I can definitely confirm that these monsters are very difficult to drive. I probably need to go the gym more often,” Hulkenberg said after his IndyCar test.

Quick update regarding Indycar: It was exciting to test an Indycar two weeks ago and I am grateful to @ArrowMcLarenSP for this opportunity. However for personal reasons I decided not to go ahead with it. Keep you posted on my future plans. #WeRideOn

It was reported that McLaren was prepared to offer Hulkenberg some one-off outings in a third car next year in IndyCar, before adding a full-time third entry to its team for 2023.

Hulkenberg, however, is pulling out of the opportunity.

“It was exciting to test an Indy car two weeks ago, and I am grateful to Arrow McLaren SP,” he announced on social media. “However for personal reasons I decided not to go ahead with it. (I’ll) keep you posted on my future plans.”

Good morning from Barber.👋@HulkHulkenberg pic.twitter.com/3O73hy0WId

Source: Read Full Article

The post Former F1 Racer Nico Hulkenberg Says No Thanks to ‘Difficult to Drive’ IndyCar Monsters appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

Devlin DeFrancesco is headed to the NTT IndyCar Series.

Indy Lights graduate DeFrancesco, 21, was introduced by Andretti Autosport on Thursday as its fourth driver for the 2022 IndyCar season. DeFrancesco replaces James Hinchcliffe in the No. 29 Dallara Honda and will join the trio of Colton Herta, Romain Grosjean and Alexander Rossi.

DeFrancesco, who was picked over Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood, will drive for the Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport arm of Andretti Autosport. That arm is co-owned by George Steinbrenner IV.

DeFrancesco finished second in Indy Pro 2000 in 2020 and was Indy Lights rookie of the year last season, when he finished sixth in the standings for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport’s Indy Lights entry.

“We’re really excited,” Andretti said in a video press conference on Wednesday. “It’s actually exciting when a plan comes together. This is something that started quite a few years ago, and with Dev driving for us first in Mazdas and then in Lights, and he finished second at the championship in Mazdas and probably had a better shot at winning if we as a team maybe would have had more experience to help him out in that way, so he did really well there, and then had a pretty good year in Lights.

“The plan was always for him to get to Indy cars right about now, and it’s really great when it all comes together. I’m really excited.”

Steinbrenner said that DeFrancesco has what it takes to surprise some people next year. The young driver will be replacing one on of IndyCar’s most popular drivers. Hinchcliffe, 34, had a disappointing season in 2020. Despite a season-best third-place finish on the streets of Nashille, Hinchcliffe finished just 20th in the NTT IndyCar Series standings.

“It’s extremely satisfying,” said Steinbrenner when asked about bringing someone through the ranks as opposed to signing an IndyCar free agent. “It’s hard even from Michael and myself’s perspective to get anyone in IndyCar when you’re starting from the junior formulas; to sort of put a whole program together around a person can be difficult and challenging.

“To sort of get it all put together, get Devlin in IndyCar for the foreseeable future hopefully, and yeah, I think it’s going to be a really good year. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of folks.”

DeFrancesco brings sponsorship, which no doubt factored in the Andretti decision.

“I’ve had such great support from such great partners, and to be able to keep those people on for next year and also have some new partners is a great—is something personally great for me. Kimoa,” DeFrancesco said. “Simply Mac, Fyllo, Powertap, Sol Yoga, Jones Soda, to have these people on board for next year on the No. 29 car is really exciting, and I truly am grateful for it.

DeFrancesco is also happy with his results in IndyCar tests.

“Honestly, personally, I found the car suited me much more,” DeFrancesco said. “I got to grips with it quite quickly. Definitely from midday onwards in Sebring I was already coming to grips with it and then Barber it didn’t take me that long to get up to speed. I really enjoy the car. I can’t wait to be in the thing again, and I’m really excited to get going for next year.”

Andretti picked DeFrancesco for the promotion ahead of its other three drivers in Indy Lights. Included in that list is Kirkwood, who won the Indy Lights championship with 10 wins in 2021 (DeFrancesco was winless). Also in the Andretti stable in Indy Lights in 2021 were Danial Frost, who finished fifth in the standings, and Robert Megennis, who finished seventh.

Andretti said that DeFrancesco, however, outperformed Kirkwood in an IndyCar test.

“Well, like I said, it was a long-range plan,” Andretti said. “It wasn’t something that we just came up with overnight. We’ve had this planned out a few years ago. It was more basically just following the plan.

“But I want to comment, as well, on Devlin at his test, I think he did very well. I think an Indy car is really going to suit his style. He’s a very aggressive style, which I think in Indy Lights probably was not as good for his driving style, but I think IndyCar you have to be very aggressive, and he is, and I think that’s why if you saw, he was actually quicker than Kyle Kirkwood in the last test on the same day. That says something because everybody rates Kyle.

“For him to go out and go quicker than Kyle I thought was really great there at a very tough track, too. Barber is not an easy racetrack.”

Source: Read Full Article

The post Andretti Picks Devlin DeFrancesco over Indy Lights Champion for IndyCar Seat appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

The Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar race is getting off the island in 2023.

On Wednesday, the Detroit City Council gave the OK for the race to move off Belle Isle and onto the streets of downtown.

The City of Detroit played host to Formula 1 downtown from 1982 through 1988. From 1989-91, Indy cars raced in on city streets. The race weekend, anchored by the NTT IndyCar Series, raced on Belle Isle in Detroit from 1992-2001, 2007-08, and since 2012.

According to Grand Prix officials, the race spearheaded by Roger Penske has returned more than $13.5 million in improvements since 2007 to Belle Isle, which is classified as a state park in Michigan.

The 2022 Detroit Grand Prix weekend, featuring the NTT IndyCar Series, is scheduled for June 3-5 on Belle Isle.

Here’s the full text of Wednesday’s announcement:

Source: Read Full Article

The post City Council Approves IndyCar Race Move from Belle Isle to Streets of Detroit appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

It’s been a little over one month—September 27, to be exact—since the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season concluded, with Alex Palou earning the championship.

While he’s looking forward to the start of the 2022 season, now less than four months away—February 27 in St. Petersburg, Florida—IndyCar president Jay Frye is still reveling in the numerous successes achieved in the 2021 season.

“There was so many different data points and different things that happened this past season, there’s almost too many,” Frye told Autoweek. “How do you differentiate all of the successes, from Helio (Castroneves) winning his fourth Indianapolis 500 to having nine different winners from eight countries, which ties a record.

“And then there was 40 percent of the field won a race, which shows great depth, to four first-time winners. I think the generational thing with the four first-time winners was cool. We still have a lot of great veteran drivers and they’re very helpful to the young drivers on and off the track.

“There’s all kinds of things about this season that were cool about the season. It was just an amazing time to be in IndyCar.”

When Frye prepared a speech for the post-season awards banquet earlier this month, he was faced with a conundrum because there was such a significant number of accomplishments in 2021.

“It was such a great season, there were so many things actually that when I came up with a list, it was so long that we had to cut it down,” Frye quipped.

Frye agreed that IndyCar needed a season like 2021 to help erase much of the disappointment and frustration from 2020, which saw several races cancelled or moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Yeah, 2020 was hard on all of us, for lots of reasons. Part of it wasn’t that much different because they kind of felt like they blended together. I mean, remember, we come up with a schedule for 2021 last fall. And then before you know it, we were changing before the season starts.

‘So there was always that in the back of your mind, there was always that where you woke up every day, and you weren’t exactly sure, you think you got a good plan. But we got really good at pivoting from our plans and understanding what we needed to do and how to do it.”

The season’s highest point was the Indianapolis 500.

First, the race returned to its traditional Memorial Day weekend slot—complete with over 135,000 fans in the stands, after 2020’s rescheduled August 23rd event that was unprecedentedly held without fans due to the pandemic.

But equally as important was Helio Castroneves’ emotional fourth career Indy 500, tying him with legendary drivers A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for the most wins in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

Then there was the successful street race in Nashville that energize a city.

“The Helio thing at the 500 was definitely a moment,” Frye said. “You look at all sports that have had moments throughout their history—and maybe we hadn’t had a moment for a while—and that was definitely a moment, right?

“It was something that was very unique. To have a four-time winner, somebody who is still current going for five (500 wins) next year is obviously big. So, yeah, again, it’s been an exciting time.”

Now that 2021 is in the rearview mirror, Frye and the rest of the IndyCar community has settled in for a long vacation. But the start of the 2022 campaign is only 154 days off.

So what does Frye and IndyCar do for an encore? For as important as it is to build upon 2021’s momentum, 2022 will also be a crucial campaign as it will be the final season that the circuit runs its current open-wheel race cars before shifting to a revolutionary hybrid model in 2023.

“I think 2022 will look a lot like 2021,” Frye said. “The depth of the field is amazing. And if you look at the nine winners out of 24 (full-time cars) in 2021, there was another handful that you would have thought they should have won at probably some point but didn’t, right?

“One of the things we look at is car count. A couple years ago, we got to 20 to 22 (full-time) cars. This year, we were at 24; we even had 28 in a few races, which was the most we’ve had in 10 years.

“Next year, we’re looking to have 26 or 27 full-time.”

IndyCar also had a number of other highlights in 2021 including the most-watched Indy 500 (5.581 million viewers) since 2016 (and up more than 50 percent of the number of viewers from the rescheduled 2020 edition of the 500).

Also, IndyCar enjoyed the most-watched overall average viewership (1.223 million viewers) across the entire season since 2016, and a 19 percent overall average viewership from 2020 (1.027 million).

Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

Source: Read Full Article

The post Plenty of Reasons to Celebrate the 2021 NTT IndyCar Season appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

The latest chapter in the now five-year saga of the failed 2016 Grand Prix of Boston IndyCar race closed this week for the event’s Chief Financial Officer.

The former CFO of the Grand Prix of Boston IndyCar race, John F. Casey, 57, pleaded guilty in Massachusetts on Thursday to 23 counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, four counts of money laundering and three counts of filing false tax returns.

Sentencing is scheduled for for Feb. 15, 2022. Casey was indicted in September 2020. Some of the charges were in connection with money paid to Casey for work on the IndyCar race originally scheduled for the streets of Boston over Labor Day weekend in 2016.

The Boston IndyCar event was cancelled in April of that year—just five months before the scheduled race day—for what organizers said was a litany of issues including unhappy local residents and poor ticket sales. Residents complained about traffic and business disruptions on streets affected by the race. Organizers gave up the fight and eventually filed for bankruptcy in July of 2016.

Turns out the Boston Grand Prix was not Casey’s only problem.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts posted the ruling to its website in a release on Thursday. According to the Justice Department, Casey, who became CFO of the Boston IndyCar event in January of 2015, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Boston in connection with multiple schemes to defraud equipment and small business financing companies as well as the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Internal Revenue Service.

According to DOJ, the Boston Grand Prix organization made payments to or on behalf of Casey totaling approximately $308,292 in 2015 and $601,073 in 2016 which Casey failed to include in the gross income he claimed on his personal tax returns for those years.

Casey also owned an ice rink in Peabody, Massachusetts, from October 2013 until he sold it in June 2016. Between October 2014 and October 2016, Casey obtained more than $743,000 in funds from equipment financing companies, purportedly for the purchase of equipment for the ice rink. Casey, however, no longer owned the rink for four months during that period.

Casey’s trail of questionable business deals didn’t end there. Between March 2020 and at least May 2021, the DOJ says Casey orchestrated a scheme to fraudulently obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Paycheck Protection Program loans. And in January 2021, while awaiting trial for the financing fraud scheme, Casey submitted an application for a $70,000 pandemic-related relief grant to the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation containing false information about the operating expenses of a company that was not in business in 2019 or 2020.

Between April 2020 and April 2021, approximately $676,552 in COVID-19 relief funds were deposited into bank accounts controlled by Casey.

The DOJ says that Casey used the vast majority of the funds for personal expenses, including a three-carat diamond ring, a six-month membership to Match.com, private school tuition, residential rent payments, living expenses, payments on personal credit card accounts, restaurant meals, car payments and luxury hotel stays.

Source: Read Full Article

The post CFO of Ill-Fated IndyCar Grand Prix of Boston Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Money Laundering appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

Don’t look now, but the influx of former Formula 1 drivers into the NTT IndyCar Series may be ready to add another driver’s name to the list.

The Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team announced on Wednesday that it would be giving F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg what it’s calling an “IndyCar evaluation test” on Monday at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Huklenberg, 34, last raced full time in F1 with Renault in 2019. Last year, he raced three times in a substitute role for the Racing Point team. He finished in the top-10 and the points in two of his three starts.

Hulkenberg has made 179 starts in F1. He’s yet to reach the podium in F1, though his racing resume’ does include a win at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche.

“I am pleased to try out an Indy car and see what it’s all about,” Hulkenberg said. “I want to thank Arrow McLaren SP and Chevy for the opportunity at relatively short notice. While I don’t have any current plans to race in IndyCar, it will be great to drive a car for the first time and get a feel for the series.”

Arrow McLaren SP is exploring the possibility of adding a third car to join 2022 drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Nico and giving him his first taste of IndyCar in an Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet,” said Taylor Kiel, president of Arrow McLaren SP. “Barber will be a great track for him to get his first laps and gain some miles in a new form of open-wheel racing.”

Source: Read Full Article

The post Former F1 Driver Nico Hulkenberg Tabbed For IndyCar Test With Arrow McLaren SP appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.

Don’t look now, but the influx of former Formula 1 drivers into the NTT IndyCar Series may be ready to add another driver’s name to the list.

The Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team announced on Wednesday that it would be giving F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg what it’s calling an “IndyCar evaluation test” on Monday at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Huklenberg, 34, last raced full time in F1 with Renault in 2019. Last year, he raced three times in a substitute role for the Racing Point team. He finished in the top-10 and the points in two of his three starts.

Hulkenberg has made 179 starts in F1. He’s yet to reach the podium in F1, though his racing resume’ does include a win at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche.

“I am pleased to try out an Indy car and see what it’s all about,” Hulkenberg said. “I want to thank Arrow McLaren SP and Chevy for the opportunity at relatively short notice. While I don’t have any current plans to race in IndyCar, it will be great to drive a car for the first time and get a feel for the series.”

Arrow McLaren SP is exploring the possibility of adding a third car to join 2022 drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Nico and giving him his first taste of IndyCar in an Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet,” said Taylor Kiel, president of Arrow McLaren SP. “Barber will be a great track for him to get his first laps and gain some miles in a new form of open-wheel racing.”

Source: Read Full Article

The post Former F1 Driver Nico Hulkenberg Tabbed For IndyCar Test With Arrow McLaren SP appeared first on AutoMotoBuzz.com.