Tag: Indianapolis 500

Driver to wear Notre Dame-type helmet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Irish inspire an Irish driver.

Notre Dame football and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are two of the most beloved sports institutions in Indiana. It’s surprising that the two don’t come together more often. However, that will come to pass May 10 and 11 during the two races for the Sonsio Grand Prix for the Indy NXT series. James Roe, who appropriately hails from Ireland, will drive in a helmet that might as well have come direct from the Notre Dame campus:

https://www.instagram.com/jamesroe_ie/p/C56nNQdPI3x/?img_index=1

For the uninitiated, Indy NXT is the level directly below IndyCar, the governing body that puts on the Indianapolis 500 every year. Hopefully, Roe will get to be part of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in the distant future and put this helmet in the real spotlight. For now though, this representation will do.

In Indy NXT’s lone race so far this season, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10, Roe, who drives for Andretti Global, finished 16th. He next will run in the Grand Prix of Alabama on April 28.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Katherine Legge returns for second straight Indianapolis 500 in 2024

Katherine Legge will return for her second straight Indianapolis 500 driving the No. 51 car for Dale Coyne Racing in 2024.

[autotag]Katherine Legge[/autotag] is returning for her second straight Indianapolis 500 in 2024. On Tuesday morning, [autotag]Dale Coyne Racing[/autotag] announced that Legge will drive the No. 51 car as she attempts to make her fourth Indianapolis 500 in late May. The 43-year-old driver competed with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in last year’s event and finished in 33rd place after an accident.

Legge also competed in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for a 26th-place finish. However, her best finish in the event came with Dragon Racing in 2012 after a 22nd-place effort. Legge will now attempt to make her fourth Indianapolis 500 for a fourth different team. She has been successful on ovals during her IndyCar career outside of the Indianapolis 500, too.

The hope is that Legge can make the event and push for her first top-10 finish in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. This is the first time in over a decade that Legge is going for back-to-back starts in the event. The expectations shouldn’t be too high since Legge doesn’t race in IndyCar much, but she has proven she can finish in the top 10 spots on an oval.

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IndyCar bans controversial racing maneuver for the Indianapolis 500

The NTT IndyCar Series has banned a controversial racing maneuver for the Indianapolis 500. Find out what IndyCar has banned moving forward.

NASCAR isn’t the only racing series in the United States of America that has a major race, such as the Daytona 500, in 2024. The NTT IndyCar Series is set to begin its season in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 10. However, IndyCar’s biggest event, the Indianapolis 500, will be on May 26. Ahead of the event, IndyCar has banned a controversial racing maneuver.

According to RACER, IndyCar has banned Josef Newgarden’s “aggressive” defensive move off Turn 4 that he made at the end of the 2023 Indianapolis 500. Newgarden made a hard left turn when exiting Turn 4 and dove into the lane that is used to slow down for pit road speed. The driver of the No. 2 car then swerved back up the race track to break off the draft.

As seen in the video above, this is a dangerous maneuver as it puts the safety of the drivers at risk. It was legal for the 2023 Indianapolis 500, so nothing can be taken away from Newgarden; however, this is the right choice. IndyCar must protect the drivers when exceeding 200 miles per hour, and such a move isn’t required.

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Cup winner Blaney interested in Indy-Charlotte double with Penske

Fresh off his first NASCAR championship, Ryan Blaney was quickly looking at what he could accomplish next, and with a team owner who has a presence in other forms of motorsports, the request was simple. “Blaney said to me at some point over the last …

Fresh off his first NASCAR championship, Ryan Blaney was quickly looking at what he could accomplish next, and with a team owner who has a presence in other forms of motorsports, the request was simple.

“Blaney said to me at some point over the last several weeks that he would like to go to Indy,” Roger Penske said in Nashville, where Blaney was celebrated during Champion’s Week. “I was like, ‘Whoa, slow down a little bit.’ We’re good to have everybody come to Indy, but if we can have the double and really play up Memorial Day at both Charlotte and Indianapolis, it’ll be great.”

Penske owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series. His team also won this year’s Indy 500 with Josef Newgarden.

Kyle Larson will run the double next year. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is one of the most versatile drivers in all of motorsports, and his Cup Series team worked out a deal with McLaren for Larson to run in the biggest race in IndyCar.

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Larson won’t be the first NASCAR driver to attempt the double, and doing so isn’t a new idea for Blaney, who has been in the Team Penske pipeline since 2008 and joined the Cup Series fold in 2018.

“Honestly, it’s something that’s bounced around my mind for a couple of years,” Blaney said. “It’s something I feel like…if you could do the double, that’s cool. Larson is doing it next year. That’s going to be great.

“I’ve poked around that idea with [Penske] for a couple of years now, and I might have to bring it back up, so we’ll see where that goes.”

Blaney doesn’t have an open-wheel background, nor was ever on the path to IndyCar. It’s the challenge of completing both races — 1,100 miles — that attracts him to wanting to trying something new and prestigious.

“I just feel like there’s not many people that can do the double,” Blaney said. “It’s a pretty short list and it would be neat to just do it. I have respect for all forms of motorsports, so I think you want to go experience something like that. I think at my age it would be kind of perfect to do it, but I just think the nostalgia of it and to be able to say you ran, hopefully, 1,100 miles in one day on the racetrack is a cool feat.

“It’s cool for Kyle [Larson] being able to do it and maybe one day I’ll get the privilege too.”

Indy 500 fan whose car was damaged by a flying tire is getting a new one from Penske Entertainment

A tire from Felix Rosenqvist’s car flew off into the crowd during the Indy 500 and hit a parked car.

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Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, particularly the final 20 laps, was filled with drama, tension and some terrifying crashes, including when a tire from Felix Rosenqvist’s car flew off into the crowd and hit a parked car.

Rosenqvist made contact with the outside wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and spun out as a result. With traffic coming around the track, Kyle Kirkwood hit Rosenqvist’s skidding car, causing the tire to shoot out toward the grandstands. Kirkwood then slammed into the wall, flipped upside down and slid down the track.

Thankfully, no one was injured from the tire soaring above fans’ heads — though one spectator was treated for minor injuries from flying debris not related to the tire. But it hit a parked car, damaging the front left side.

MORE INDY 500: Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden on his thrilling last-lap pass and ‘Top Gun-style’ celebration

And now, as the IndyStar reported Wednesday, the owner of the damaged (passenger) car, Robin Matthews, is getting a replacement from Penske Entertainment, which owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series, per a track spokesperson.

More from the IndyStar:

“I didn’t see it come down,” said Matthews, a racing fan from Indianapolis. “I came down and they said, ‘Robin, it’s your car!’ I thought, ‘No.’ I thought somebody was pranking me. It’s a car. It’s fine.”

For racing fans who know anything about Roger Penske and the “Penske Way,” a new car for Matthews is hardly a surprise.

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Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden on his thrilling last-lap pass and ‘Top Gun-style’ celebration

“I couldn’t have scripted it better for us to be able to have a green-flag finish,” Indy 500 champ Josef Newgarden told For The Win.

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More than a decade after his first time out, Josef Newgarden finally became an Indianapolis 500 champion Sunday, winning the 107th running of the iconic race.

Following three red-flag pauses in the final 15 laps of the 500-mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 champ, battled it out off a one-lap restart shootout. Newgarden surged past Ericsson on the backstretch for the lead and ultimately the victory in a thrilling final lap. Winning a record 19th Indy 500 for Team Penske, the No. 2 Chevrolet driver edged Ericsson by 0.0974 seconds for the fourth-closest finish in the race’s history.

For The Win spoke with Newgarden on Tuesday after his Indy 500 victory about his late-race strategy, adding to the Team Penske legacy and his “Top Gun-style” celebration.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Newgarden win caps off fine fightback for Chevrolet

Team Chevy’s response to its drubbing by Honda at the 2022 Indianapolis 500 was on display throughout most of the race as its drives led 130 of 200 laps while making exceptional fuel mileage on the way to victory for American auto manufacturer. …

Team Chevy’s response to its drubbing by Honda at the 2022 Indianapolis 500 was on display throughout most of the race as its drives led 130 of 200 laps while making exceptional fuel mileage on the way to victory for American auto manufacturer.

Josef Newgarden’s triumph for Team Penske and Team Chevy on the last lap was a thrill felt throughout the Speedway and General Motors.

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“What an exciting pass by Josef Newgarden and an incredible finish to The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” said Jim Campbell, the brand’s VP Performance and Motorsports. “We all will be talking about Josef’s last-lap move, sprint to the finish line and post-race celebration for a long time. Josef drove a solid race all afternoon and he put himself in position for that well-timed and memorable move. This is a great win for a popular driver and champion.

“Congratulations to Josef and the No. 2 Shell Team Penske Chevrolet for his first Indianapolis 500 win, and congratulations to Roger Penske on his 19th. Thanks to all of the hard work by our Chevrolet engineers along with our technical partners at Ilmor on delivering an engine package that delivered the right combination of power, durability and efficiency.”

In recent years, Honda has made use of strong late-race engine settings that made their 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 engines a problem for the front-running Chevy drivers to overcome. Team Penske president Tim Cindric credited the progress made in this area as making a difference in Newgarden’s ability to sweep past Honda-powered 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson and claim his first victory on IndyCar’s biggest stage.

“They’re here to win, and they’ve continued to put more and more resources behind it,” Cindric said. “It’s the details that win this place, and when you look at last year’s race, I think the Chevys needed a little more at the end when it was time to go, and they gave us more at the end when it was time to go.

“I think we either closed the gap or at least gave us the tools to win as Chevy teams, and when you looked at it, there were quite a few Chevys going into the third to last restart, I think there was four Chevys up there in the top 5. It’s a testament to what that whole group has done.”

So near, but so far for Arrow McLaren at Indy

“Last year, we were like $1 short, and this year, we had $1 in our pocket; we were cruising,” McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown told RACER after his four-car Indy 500 program flexed its muscles and led 76 of 200 laps before its leading contenders Pato …

“Last year, we were like $1 short, and this year, we had $1 in our pocket; we were cruising,” McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown told RACER after his four-car Indy 500 program flexed its muscles and led 76 of 200 laps before its leading contenders Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist crashed on their own.

Arrow McLaren’s top performer on the day was a visibly frustrated Alexander Rossi, who placed fifth, and behind him, in his Indy 500 farewell, Tony Kanaan had an average day, crossing the finish line in 15th. Minus Rosenqvist’s crash on lap 183 and O’Ward’s overambitious attempt to take the lead from Marcus Ericsson on lap 192, Brown and the Chevy-powered team might have had a say in who won the race.

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“We had a fuel issue on Pato’s car that ended up not becoming an issue at the end, but I think we had those two cars, and Rossi there or thereabouts, but we didn’t get it done,” Brown added. “But I think the upside is we had the cars to win. We were flying and they were having fun. It was like, ‘You lead for a few laps, then you lead for a few laps.’

“They were so hooked up. The results are disappointing, but other than that, what an awesome Indy 500. We were fast and had two cars that were on for the win, and Rossi was right there too.

Brown applauded his team for their year-to-year improvement, led by the engineering-first structure overseen by Gavin Ward.

“Couldn’t be happier,” he said. “We are a threat to win every weekend with multiple cars that are threatening for the championship. It wasn’t a good points day for us, but I couldn’t be happier. I think Gavin and the whole team have stepped up. There were definitely a better team than we were last year.”

‘Dragon move’ a necessary evil – Newgarden

The “dragon move” that has become an increasingly prevalent feature of the final laps of the Indianapolis 500 is a necessary evil because of the downforce configuration of the current cars, according to newly-minted Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden. …

The “dragon move” that has become an increasingly prevalent feature of the final laps of the Indianapolis 500 is a necessary evil because of the downforce configuration of the current cars, according to newly-minted Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden.

Pioneered by Simon Pagenaud in 2019 and replicated by 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson, and again by both Ericsson and Newgarden in Sunday’s race, the maneuver involves the leading car exiting the last corner and swerving aggressively from one side of the track to the other in an effort to break the tow to the car behind. Although it’s a defensive move and looks very similar to blocking — which is not permitted under the IndyCar rulebook — the difference lies in the fact that the move is instigated by the car in front, rather than being a reaction to a move from the car behind, and is therefore within the rules.

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“It’s impossible to not use that because of the ease to follow one car,” Newgarden said.

“It got even tougher this year. I think sitting in first place was even more difficult than what we’ve seen in years past, even just last year, and when I was able to get by [Ericsson] on the back straight, I was really surprised how much momentum he still had in 3 and 4.

“He was super-close and had a good run coming off 4, and with that, I thought, I’ve got to be as aggressive as possible to not let him by.”

Newgarden’s move as he exited Turn 4 on Sunday’s final lap was as aggressive as any seen to date; the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet dropping a couple of wheels over the white line that separates the track from the pitlane. But while Newgarden makes no apologies for pulling every trick out of his hat to secure the win, he believes that IndyCar needs to work on refining the cars’ downforce levels so that cars can still race closely without the trailing car having such an advantage.

“I was about driving through pit lane,” he said of his move. “It was legal, is all I’m going to say. They were very clear that they are not enforcing that line, and they didn’t enforce it last year. They said they’re not enforcing it again, and I’m coming to the checkered flag and I’m going to do everything I can to win this race, and I had to be as aggressive as possible, because the tow effect to just the first car was even more difficult than last year. You were just a sitting duck if you were in the lead.

“Honestly, I don’t love that. I think the cars should be more difficult to drive here. It’s a terribly difficult balance for the series to walk, because you want to have a good show. You want everybody to be as close together as possible and you want it to be difficult for someone to win this race, and I agree with that.

“Basically, all this downforce that we’ve added has only made it easier and easier for the first two cars, so when you’re the third car, you’re still just stuck in that tow line where no one is really going anywhere. We’re all closer, but it’s only the first two that can really do something.

“So we’ve got to change that formula where it’s easier to follow in the pack, but you can also be rewarded if you’re better at driving the car with less downforce. I want to see the drivers that really excel get a better advantage. That’s why they pay us to be in the seat. That’s why they pay the engineers, to find the perfect setups that we can make an advantage and get away with it. Not so we can win by two laps, but I just think the dynamic of the race, the complexion, could look a little different.”

Victory celebration with Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden

With a bag of McDonalds delivered by Roger Penske in one hand and a beer in the other, Josef Newgarden – winner of the 107th Indianapolis 500 – joins RACER’s Marshall Pruett to discuss his rise from the Mazda Road To Indy to earning the greatest …

With a bag of McDonalds delivered by Roger Penske in one hand and a beer in the other, Josef Newgarden — winner of the 107th Indianapolis 500 — joins RACER’s Marshall Pruett to discuss his rise from the Mazda Road To Indy to earning the greatest victory of his career, and more.

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