Nolan Siegel’s first race for Arrow McLaren produced a solid run to 12th at his home race in the No. 6 Chevy. Among his predecessors in the car this season, Siegel’s finish at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca nearly matched the 10th earned by Theo …
Nolan Siegel’s first race for Arrow McLaren produced a solid run to 12th at his home race in the No. 6 Chevy. Among his predecessors in the car this season, Siegel’s finish at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca nearly matched the 10th earned by Theo Pourchaire at Detroit and the pair of 11ths delivered by Callum Ilott, and with more time to ready himself for the challenge, the 19-year-old expects to take another step at the next race.
“I think overall, it was successful,” the three-time Indy NXT race winner told RACER. “It was tough, and we knew it was going to be a difficult weekend going into it; we had virtually zero preparation. But I feel like as a whole, we made a lot of progress, so that was all we could really ask for. And I feel like we’re in a much better spot going into Mid-Ohio.”
Siegel (second from left) shared the LMP2 victory at Le Mans with Oliver Jarvis and Bijoy Garg. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images
Confirmed as the new driver of the No. 6 entry days before the race in Monterey, Siegel returned home from France with a remarkable debut victory in the LMP2 class in hand and went straight into getting fitted to his new car and shifting to the start of a new multi-year relationship with Arrow McLaren. The surprising split with Pourchaire came with some backlash — aimed mostly at the team — and Siegel was wise to focus on becoming a full-time IndyCar driver.
“I don’t pay attention to it,” he said. “I don’t know how I was expected to get a call offering me a seat at McLaren in IndyCar for multiple years and say no. Of course I’m gonna accept that offer. There was already some interest for the future, and it made sense to start this year, so I’m going to do my best and accepted a great opportunity.”
Siegel’s race, the third of his budding IndyCar career, and with his third team, came with a decent start from 23rd and an abundance of restraint to open the 95-lap contest. Known for his smarts, Siegel followed a plan that prized clean running, and with the exception of a solo spin exiting Turn 2, the plan was followed until it was time to dial up the aggression in the second half of the race. A good strategy call jumped the No. 6 forward, and then Siegel made a number of wheel-to-wheel passes on his way to 12th.
“It’s a long race, and I knew it was going to be a bit chaotic,” he said. “Everything’s so aggressive at Laguna because it’s so hard to pass, so at the beginning, it was about staying clean and not doing anything stupid. The pace on [Firestone] primaries was not as good as the pace on alternates, so once we put alternates on, I felt like our race really came alive.
“Halfway through, I felt like our pace was super strong, and that’s when we started plugging away and undercut a few people on strategy. So that was good. Had some really good out-laps and at the end, once I had kind of gotten comfortable and the pace settled in on alternates, it was fun to actually get racy and pass some people on track. The more laps I did, the more comfortable I got, and I felt like by the end, I was able to actually race people hard and keep up with that top-10 group. That was a nice feeling. And it was the first time that I’ve really made a lot of on-track passes and felt competitive in IndyCar.”
Having team veterans Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi to draw from was a huge bonus for Siegel.
“It was great. They’re both obviously very talented and have been competitive in IndyCar for a long time. So having that experience is huge for me, and they’re both fun people to work with, really nice guys and are willing to help me,” he said. “I think it’s a huge benefit for me. I’m definitely grateful. I don’t think I could really ask for two better teammates to learn from in my first couple races with the team.”
If leaving the Indy NXT series for a big shot in IndyCar with Arrow McLaren wasn’t enough of a change, Siegel is transforming the rest of his life — one largely spent in his native Northern California — to blend with his new team that’s based in Indiana. Driving the No. 6 Chevy will only be part of his workload in the coming weeks and months.
“I have an apartment in Indy, and I’m going to be there quite a bit,” he said. “I just finished up a call with the (physical) trainer; the training program is going to start, nutrition is going to change…everything is going to change. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but I’m excited about this new chapter. And I’m gonna be an Indianapolis resident. So, big life changes for me.”
Opening practice for the eighth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, saw Scott McLaughlin finish on top for Team Penske, with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay looking strong until engine trouble, and …
Opening practice for the eighth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, saw Scott McLaughlin finish on top for Team Penske, with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay looking strong until engine trouble, and Arrow McLaren’s newest recruit Nolan Siegel turning his first laps for the team.
RACER’s Trackside Report at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey is presented by Radical Motorsport. As one of the world’s most prolific sports car manufacturers, Radical Motorsport sets out to create a race-bred thrill-a-minute driving experience on the racetrack. Radical Cup North America is the continent’s premier Radical championship offering exhilarating multi-class Le Mans style racing for a fraction of the price. Click to learn more.
Beyond the Hypercar headlines, the other two categories in the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours provided plenty of action for the fans trackside and at home. Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 title in LMP2, but …
Beyond the Hypercar headlines, the other two categories in the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours provided plenty of action for the fans trackside and at home.
Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 title in LMP2, but in the end, United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA Gibson was just too strong in the closing hours.
Anchored by the experienced Oliver Jarvis, a previous winner, with two Le Mans rookies in Bijoy Garg and rising star Nolan Siegel, the team demonstrated its strength throughout the race. They put a stamp on it at the end with an 18.651s gap to the No. 34 Inter Europol entry of Jakub Smiechowski, Vladislav Lomko and Clement Novalak.
“It’s unbelievable! First time here, there was so much to learn, and I’m so lucky to have done it with such a great group of people,” said Siegel before Garg added: “This is the best moment of my life.”
United’s No. 22 was involved in a tangle early in the race and often struggled to separate itself from the main pack. It didn’t matter on Sunday afternoon — once the field was reset by the final safety car, a sprint race within the race broke out.
Blistering pace and strategic nous made the difference, with Oliver Jarvis enjoying a standout drive — setting the fastest race lap in the category– while Siegel looked every bit the emerging star he is and Garg enjoying a near-faultless performance in a field featuring a number of additional standout Silver-ranked drivers.
Tire choice at the end was particularly vital, but United’s gamble paid off en route to a second Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 class win.
“It’s always an incredible feeling to be in Le Mans, but to be able to win it is an honor,” Jarvis said post-race.
“I was relieved to see the checkered flag. What a tough race. Just staying on the track was already an achievement. The conditions were so difficult. There were there were times when I wasn’t sure if we were going to win it, or stick it in the wall.
“Big thank you to my two teammates. They arrived here as rookies and they’re leaving as winners.
“United Autosport as always gave us a phenomenal car. They got everything right and we can be very proud of what we achieved today.”
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Behind the top two runners, the IDEC Sport ORECA completed the podium after spending almost the entire race firmly in the mix. Paul Lafargue, Reshad de Gerus and Job van Uitert could have won the race on another day.
Vector Sport and Nielsen Racing may have, too. Both British teams were impressive this weekend, but saw their chances of victory unravel gradually once night fell.
It was a similar story for the No. 183 AF Corse ORECA which won the Pro/Am division comfortably — by two laps — but looked capable of an even higher finish. Into Sunday morning the car led for large chunks of time and slipped out of the top three towards the end as Bronze-ranked Francois Perrodo finished off his drive time.
Nevertheless, a Pro/Am win is what AF Corse’s drivers came for, and they were rarely challenged in the second half of the race by the other seven cars in their division.
The No. 14 AO by TF ORECA — running in its “Spike The Dragon” livery — with its headline driver Louis Deletraz took second in the class with a sixth-place finish, while the DKR entry completed the sub-class podium.
There were countless incidents in LMP2 throughout the 24 hours, and so many wholesale changes to the running order as Bronze drivers completed stints in tricky conditions, rain showers caught pro drivers out and tire strategy became tough to manage.
There were, though, only a few retirements. The No. 45 Crowdstrike by APR No. 07 lost a wheel and stopped, the No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA suffered an engine failure and the No. 9 Proton entry was abandoned with mechanical woes of its own.
Many contending cars ended up off the lead lap towards the end. The No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA, a pre-race favorite, was in the mix until an unexplained visit to the garage in the closing stages.
The No. 23 United Autosports ORECA featuring 2023 GTE Am winner Ben Keating also ended up losing precious time in pit lane after the Texan got stuck in the gravel at the Dunlop Bridge on Saturday evening.
Porsche’s Hypercar fleet may have failed to deliver a famous 20th overall win, but it wasn’t all bad news for the German manufacturer, which made history by winning the first-ever LMGT3 race at Le Mans with the Manthey EMA entry. JEP/Motorsport Images
Before the start many LMGT3 observers would have picked Pure Rxcing’s all-conquering 911 to deliver the goods this weekend, but it was the sister EMA entry of Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz that would come out on top.
“It was so difficult this year, because I felt I was on slick tires in the wet or in mixed conditions all the time. It was a flat-out race, in which strategy was so important,” Lietz commented.
“At the end we were the chosen ones, the lucky ones, so I am thrilled to be here with Morris, Yasser and Manthey to win this for Porsche.”
After the first half of the race proved intense on a lap-to-lap basis, and particularly tricky to read, LMGT3 settled down into somewhat of a pattern in the final third, with the Manthey EMA Porsche and No. 31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 emerging as the two cars in contention for victory.
The pair swapped places multiple times in the run to the flag, but ultimately Lietz had the pace when it mattered and pulled away in his final stint.
It was, nevertheless, a hugely impressive run from Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Geleal in the No. 31. Early on they struggled to feature when the weather first turned, but as the night hours approached and the second half of the race was in sight, the race came back to them.
A podium provided an extremely useful bundle of WEC championship points, but more importantly, served as a morale boost on an otherwise traumatic weekend for BMW and WRT in which both Hypercars and the No. 46 BMW M4 piloted by Valentino Rossi failed to make the finish.
Proton Competition was another team that will leave Le Mans thankful it claimed a podium finish. Its No. 99 963 had a torrid time in Hypercar and limped home, the No. 77 Mustang was crashed into and hit mechanical trouble, and its LMP2 ORECA retired with a loss of power.
Mechanical trouble for the Proton Competition #77 Mustang.
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 15, 2024
On the flip side, Proton’s No. 88 Ford Mustang of Giorgio Roda, Mikkel Pedersen and Dennis Olsen had a rollercoaster race but proved that the Blue Oval’s new challenger can stay reliable and fast in the toughest of conditions.
The No. 44 sister car impressed too, coming home fourth after a metronomic run on John Hartshorne’s final Le Mans start.
Iron Dames’ Lamborghini completed the top five with a solid performance, but Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting were aiming higher. Adding to what has been a brutal start to the WEC and ELMS seasons for the all-female-crewed team, they struggled to fully recover from being side-swiped by the No. 4 Penske Porsche in the early hours of the race on the Porsche Curves.
There were a number of other storylines to follow, both good and bad.
As a whole this was a hugely impressive outing for AKKODIS ASP and its pair of Lexus RC F LMGT3s. Following a tough start to life as a Lexus customer, Jerome Policand’s team were often in the mix for a podium through the first 16 hours.
United Autosports’ first effort at Le Mans as a McLaren partner team was also head-turning. It is clear that the British LMP2-winning team is making rapid progress with the LMGT3 EVO from the Woking marque. Both cars had pace and cycled into the top three at various points — suffering mechanical dramas and retiring late in the race is simply unfortunate.
Manthey Pure Rxcing and Heart of Racing also could have won come Sunday afternoon had they not hit trouble.
The Lithuanian Porsche crew that stood out firmly from the pack in the WEC races prior to Le Mans burned through most of Alex Malykhin’s Bronze driver time by nightfall. They’d built a lead before gearbox trouble dropped the car out of contention in the early hours.
Heart of Racing, meanwhile, missed out on a chance to score the 2024 Vantage AMR its first major endurance win when Daniel Mancinelli ended up on his roof at Indianapolis after going backwards into the tires at the kink at high speed.
What about Corvette, and its new Z06 LMGT3.Rs from TF Sport? Making the finish quickly became the aim as the pace wasn’t there.
Both Vettes made it to the line and achieved their target after suffering from various ailments, the highest place of the two being the No. 82 which finished 11th.
“We made it to the end, which is an amazing accomplishment,” reflected Daniel Juncadella.
“We lost the clutch six or seven hours in, so that was quite insane. I’m very happy with the result considering some of the difficulties today. We got behind by three laps but finished two laps back, so that is encouraging.
“All in all, it was a great first experience for me at Le Mans. I had a lot of driving in all conditions, and the Corvette handled very good. It actually got better throughout the race, and I’m quite happy with that. Thanks to TF Sport, the guys at GM Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller for all their work this week. It’s such a pleasure to be part of such a big program. I’m looking forward to many more.”
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps qualifying at Road America for the XPEL Grand Prix, and interviews Marcus Armstrong, Kyffin Simpson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Nolan Siegel. RACER’s Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Radical Motorsport. As …
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps qualifying at Road America for the XPEL Grand Prix, and interviews Marcus Armstrong, Kyffin Simpson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Nolan Siegel.
RACER’s Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Radical Motorsport. As one of the world’s most prolific sports car manufacturers, Radical Motorsport sets out to create a race-bred thrill-a-minute driving experience on the racetrack. Radical Cup North America is the continent’s premier Radical championship offering exhilarating multi-class Le Mans style racing for a fraction of the price. Click to learn more.
Nolan Siegel had two plans coming into this weekend’s event at Road America. The first was to compete in the Indy NXT series where he’s fighting to win the championship with his HMD Motorsports team. The other was to get through Sunday’s 20-lap NXT …
Nolan Siegel had two plans coming into this weekend’s event at Road America. The first was to compete in the Indy NXT series where he’s fighting to win the championship with his HMD Motorsports team. The other was to get through Sunday’s 20-lap NXT race and get on a plane to France where the 19-year-old will dive directly into activities at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the United Autosports team.
Now, with Juncos Hollinger Racing’s decision to stand Agustin Canapino down at Road America to give him time to process the week-long war taking place on social media, Siegel has accepted the task of piloting Canapino’s No. 78 Chevy IndyCar with little more than one hour’s notice.
Jumping straight from his NXT car to run to the JHR transporters in the 15 minutes between sessions on Friday, Siegel didn’t get rolling in the No. 78 until half an hour later—just over 15 minutes after the IndyCar session started—and he did surprisingly well while using Chevy power for the first time, and while getting a feel for JHR’s setup compared to what he’s used at three events with Dale Coyne Racing.
“On track, I think the session went really well,” Siegel said after posting the 26th-fastest lap. “We had no issues going through what we wanted to get through. I made progress every outing. I was being super conservative. Getting thrown into this is not the easiest thing. It’s also not an easy track to just go out and push hard from the beginning. This track is super high commitment and super fast, so I took my time to get up to speed. I feel it went smoothly and now we have a good base to work off.”
Siegel was shaking hands with his No. 78 crew members—meeting some of them for the first time—as he was walking to step into the car on pit lane.
“Now, I feel like we can get the weekend going properly,” he said. “I can meet everyone as I only had like 15 minutes to get ready to do this. It’s not an easy situation but really happy to be here and excited to be working with the team.”
With lightning and downpours in Sunday’s forecast, which currently calls for nearly two inches of rain to land on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mother Nature might derail Kyle Larson’s plans of competing in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s 600-mile …
With lightning and downpours in Sunday’s forecast, which currently calls for nearly two inches of rain to land on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mother Nature might derail Kyle Larson’s plans of competing in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The latest prediction for Sunday has a 50-percent chance of foul weather descending on IMS almost two hours before the 12:45pm ET green flag and staying into the early evening, which could push the 200-lap contest to Monday.
To prepare themselves for the possibility of losing Larson to the needs of his full-time job in NASCAR on Sunday, the Arrow McLaren team and the IndyCar Series have started discussing options to keep the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevy in the field if the skies open and force Larson to leave for North Carolina.
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Arrow McLaren sporting director Tony Kanaan has been the team’s backup plan in recent months. With the injury to former driver David Malukas, the 2013 Indy 500 winner was one of the primary options to step into the No. 6 Chevy, but that role was filled by Callum Ilott.
Although the team and the series weren’t ready to offer any official statements, both confirmed to RACER that they’re evaluating a possible refresher run for Kanaan — who did his Indy 500 farewell with Arrow McLaren last year and finished 16th — later this week.
If it were to rain on Sunday, but dry enough for the race to start after Larson needed to leave, Kanaan would be cleared to drive after a refresher is completed. If rain were to delay the 500 until the day after the Charlotte NASCAR race, the team and Larson would need to decide how they wanted to proceed.
Rick Hendrick also alluded to the possibility of keeping Larson in Indy at the expense of competing in the Cup race.
“We’ve talked about it many times, and we know we need to be at Charlotte for the points,” Hendrick said. “We’re just going to let it play out, and then Kyle and myself and Jeff Gordon, we’ll make that decision Sunday.
“The pressure of being in the race and starting with a great starting spot and knowing we’ve got the 600 to run, it’s going to be pressure all day. How does the race go? Is it going to rain? What time do we have to leave to get back to Charlotte? This is going to be a tremendous amount of pressure, but we signed up for it. We’re in the race. We qualified. Kyle is a heck of a talent. I just hope that the weather cooperates and we get to finish the race.”
RACER also understands a scenario where Kanaan is not used as Larson’s backup is being contemplated and the bumped Dale Coyne Racing driver Nolan Siegel, who is approved to race without needing to do a special session in the car, could be drafted in to pilot the No. 17 Chevy. Siegel is no stranger to McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who co-owns the United Autosports sports car team Siegel will drive for next month in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The precedent of using a bumped driver was seen as recently as 2023 when Stefan Wilson was injured and unable to drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports after being hit from behind during post-qualifying practice. The bumped Graham Rahal was recruited to drive Wilson’s No. 24 Chevy, which was moved from its 25th starting spot to the back of the field. If such a situation plays out with Larson and the No. 17 Chevy which qualified fifth, Siegel would be expected to start 33rd.
Katherine Legge summed up the totality of her first experience of being at risk of failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 after being relegated to the Last Chance Qualifying session on Sunday along with Marcus Ericsson, Graham Rahal, and Nolan …
Katherine Legge summed up the totality of her first experience of being at risk of failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 after being relegated to the Last Chance Qualifying session on Sunday along with Marcus Ericsson, Graham Rahal, and Nolan Siegel.
“Terrifying,” the Dale Coyne Racing driver said. “I feel sick and shaky and like I want to cry.”
The shakes and onset of tears visited the other three drivers in the LCQ, and when the one-hour session was over, it was her young teammate, 19-year-old rookie Nolan Siegel, who was bumped from the field of 33 after crashing on the final attempt to make the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing.”
“I’m fine, but I don’t really care if I’m fine at this point,” Siegel said. “That’s somewhat irrelevant. We’re going home because we did everything we could, and I think we can be very proud of that. I did the first run, and the balance was fine. If anything, it felt pretty maximized on the trim but we knew we had to have more speed; there was no speed in it as I was flat out for four laps and on the limit of being too loose and crashing the car. We took downforce out of it because we were going to be out of the race anyway. I wasn’t going to go home without lifting. It was the last run in qualifying and I was going to go flat, and I went flat. I hit the wall because we went too far but we tried.
“I want to thank the team for all their hard work. I appreciate everything the team has done. They wanted it too. It’s not like I was the only one in this. They wanted it as well and they worked really, really, really hard for a long time. Big thank you to them. They’re not thanking me for doing a good job. Everyone did a good job. I know ultimately the result doesn’t reflect that, but they worked really hard and I’m super appreciative of all the effort they put in. We were in it together; it’s like family.”
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Legge, Ericsson, and Rahal survived to fill out the final row of 11.
Rahal was understandably relieved to be in the show, but wasn’t cheering over how it happened. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Siegel in a RLL car in the near future based on the respect he’s earned from Rahal and his father Bobby Rahal.
“Today was similar to last year,” he said. “We knew he had the speed to get in and look at how close it is. Kat, Marcus, and me — the same time in essence. It’s a game of thousandths around here. If I can say anything, it’s just ‘Great job’ to Dale Coyne Racing because honestly, they were able to successfully find a lot of speed. If you looked at where Nolan was on Friday and even yesterday, they closed the gap to us considerably as we kept losing pace. We were hanging on by a thread. I’ve been talking about that plenty. Kat did a wonderful job finding a couple of miles per hour — something we have not been able to do, frankly. Those guys put up a valiant effort.
“Nolan. Most of you guys don’t know his name but you will. He’s won in every class and category he’s been in. I’ve watched him. I’ve known the kid for 10 years. He was a little, little guy then. But you’re going to know his name in the future. He’s a winner and will be winning at this level sometime soon.”
Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, nearly botched his chance to make it into the race after slowing at the conclusion of his third qualifying lap—one lap early—and having to make another attempt to get into the race.
“That was extremely tough, but this place just brings everything out of everyone,” the Swede said. “Today, I was sitting here waiting in pit lane for the chance to go out and get a speed to even make it into the race. It was just very tough mentally, but we did it. I’m very proud of my team. They’ve been fighting so hard the last few days and to finally get the reward of having the chance to fight in the race means a lot.
“The car has been a challenge since we had to go to the backup, but the team worked extremely hard trying to improve it and make it better. Today we had a car that should have safely put us in a guaranteed spot, but I made a mistake on the first run, so we had to dig deep. It was not easy in this heat to go for a second run but we made it work and pulled it off.”
“To have them as close as we have them, that’s impressive,” Josef Newgarden said after Team Penske blitzed the field on Pole Day at the Indianapolis 500 where the three-car operation went 1-2-3 to lock out the front row. After posting the fastest …
“To have them as close as we have them, that’s impressive,” Josef Newgarden said after Team Penske blitzed the field on Pole Day at the Indianapolis 500 where the three-car operation went 1-2-3 to lock out the front row.
After posting the fastest run in the Fast 12 earlier in the day, New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin led the group to earn his first Indy 500 pole with the No. 3 Chevy at a remarkable 234.220mph average in the Fast Six ahead of Will Power in the No. 12 Chevy (233.917mph) and Newgarden in the No. 2 Chevy (233.808mph).
“I felt like there’s two runs today were some of the best runs of my career,” McLaughlin said. “I thought the potential was there, even yesterday. It was just about getting the right balance. I knew my engineer would nail it, and they did, and when the first number came up, I just had to hold on. Got a little bit loose at the end but the Pennzoil Chevy held on. Super proud to put the Yellow Submarine back on the pole and sweep for Team Penske. What a great spot for the 108th Running [of the Indianapolis 500]. I’m really proud. I think it’s the first Team Penske clean sweep of the front row since ’88. In this day and age, that’s a proud moment.”
It was yet another statement for Kiwis after countryman Scott Dixon earned Indy 500 poles in 2021 and 2022, giving Antipodeans three of the last four top starting spots at the Speedway.
Teammate Power was rather dejected to lose out on earning his first Indy 500 pole, but went into the Fast Six with full knowledge that he was capable of going P1.
“I was going to be shocked if we weren’t on pole or fighting for it,” he said.
The story wasn’t over for Team Chevy as it captured the second row and two of the next three spots on the third row to give the oddsmakers a clear understanding of which engine supplier has the most horsepower.
Elsewhere in the top 12, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay put in a stellar performance to lay claim to seventh after crashing on Saturday.
“Seventh for the Indianapolis 500 after yesterday’s morning… sick!” said the Dutchman. “We were so close and were able to beat some fast cars today.”
The other big star of qualifying was found with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay who played the role of giant killer with the No. 23 Chevy to earn 12th ahead of much bigger and wealthier teams.
At the unfortunate end of Pole Day, there was also one driver who was sent home as Bump Day carved Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18 Honda driven by rookie Nolan Siegel from the starting field. A crash on his final run in the Last Chance Qualifying session sealed his fate and saved Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal, who was on the bubble from being knocked out of consecutive Indy 500s in P33.
Siegel was unharmed in the crash and was frank in his assessment after falling short in the final minute of the session.
“I’m OK,” he said over the radio. “It was [way loose]. We tried.”
Katherine Legge (P31), Marcus Ericsson (P32), and Rahal weathered the gut-wrenching LCQ and will get to take part in the race.
Once the fast 12 activities commenced as the heat migrated over 80 degrees F, Hunter-Reay went first and recorded a 230.567mph average. VeeKay was next and shot to first with 232.620mph. Pato O’Ward was next and delivered a 232.584mph to go P2.
Takuma Sato motored to a 232.171mph to claim P3, and Santino Ferrucci was up next, but lost the cloud cover that cooled the track for O’Ward and Sato. It didn’t matter, though, as Ferrucci shot to P1 with an average of 232.723mph.
Rosenqvist was up sixth and had great cloud cover to use over his four laps to produce a 232.305mph run which moved him into P4. Kyle Larson also had good cloud cover for his blast and put up a 232.788 average to take P1 to the applause and delight of the fans.
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Kyle Kirkwood followed with the sun beating down on the track and delivered a 230.993 to go P7. Alexander Rossi had the same absence of cooler conditions for his run and, like Ferrucci, it made no difference as he registered the fastest run with a 233.071mph to take P1 from his teammate Larson.
Newgarden liberated P1 from Rossi with a stellar run of 233.286mph, and it was his teammate McLaughlin’s turn to make the penultimate attempt to transfer into the Fast Six and go for pole.
McLaughlin knocked Newgarden off P1 with a 233.492mph and then it was time for teammate Power to make the last run. Cloud cover emerged for Power’s last lap and held for his entire outing to miss P1 by a tiny margin at 233.483mph to take P2.
With McLaughlin, Power, Newgarden, Rossi, Larson and Ferrucci primed to go for pole, it was time for the LCQ group to run, led off by Nolan Siegel, who posted a 229.568mph.
Ericsson had a 230.653mph average through three laps but appeared to lift at start/finish at the start of the fourth lap —did he think the run was over?—to close the run with a 195.411mph lap that dropped his average to 220.702mph.
Legge dealt with more oversteer but held onto it to take P31 and lead the LCQ with a 230.092mph run. Rahal was the last to run before second attempts could be made and went 229.974mph to take P32 in front of Siegel in P33 and Ericsson in P34.
The Andretti team sat and waited to let Ericsson’s engine cool before sending him to try and bump Siegel out. With approximately 32 minutes left in the 60-minute LCQ session, Ericsson headed out and ran four slow laps averaging 168.986mph before pulling into the pits, putting on four new tires, and getting prepared to make a proper attempt to get into the show.
Ericsson rolled out with about eight minutes to go and went 230.027mph to grab P32, bumping Siegel out. Ericsson and Legge were in, Rahal was on the bubble, and Siegel’s car was pushed to the line and sent with two minutes left on the clock.
He wound the car up to 229.288mph on the first lap, nudged the wall on the exit of Turn 1, spun, and crashed. He was unhurt and, sadly, not going to participate in his first Indy 500.
The Fast Six started with Ferrucci up first and he held onto a sliding car to go 232.692mph before Larson registered a 232.846mph to move into P1. Rossi went third and dropped the fastest lap so far with a 234.062mph which generated cheers as he held onto a wiggling machine. His average of 233.090mph was enough to take P1 before the three Penske drivers went out to settle the pole.
Newgarden made a statement with his first lap—a 234.188mph—which led to more cheers. His second lap was almost as good—a 234.004mph—and his third was also good at 233.640mph and he closed it with a 233.400mph to shoot to P1 with a 233.808mph average.
Power was the penultimate pole runner and crossed the line with a 234.128mph and fell to a 233.955mph which looked like he’d stay behind Newgarden. The next lap was a 233.767mph, and on his final, a 233.819mph was enough to go P1 with an average of 233.917mph. It was up to McLaughlin to try and spoil Power’s party.
Lap one was the best of the day — a 234.526mph — and the battle was on. Lap two was another monster at 234.371mph and it was the Kiwi’s to take. Two more strong laps did the job; pole for McLaughlin and an explosion of cheers from fans on the front straight.
Either Marcus Ericsson, Katherine Legge, Graham Rahal, or Nolan Siegel will fail to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. For two of the at-risk drivers, it’s hard to fathom how they’ve ended up among the four slowest drivers vying for the …
Either Marcus Ericsson, Katherine Legge, Graham Rahal, or Nolan Siegel will fail to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
For two of the at-risk drivers, it’s hard to fathom how they’ve ended up among the four slowest drivers vying for the three available starting spots that are up for grabs as Rahal, who was bumped from the field one year ago, is once again relegated to the Last Chance Qualifying session with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The biggest shock of all came with 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, whose backup Andretti Global car just hasn’t been able to muster the same speed as his quicker teammates.
Dale Coyne Racing, the smallest team in the IndyCar Series, is also represented in the LCQ with Legge and Siegel, whose crash on Friday forced him into a spare car that has none of the aerodynamic or mechanical drag reduction techniques applied that would allow the car to post more competitive speeds.
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The quartet, all using Honda power, were between 0.497mph and 4.479mph shy of being safe in the top 30.
“For us, it’s flipped,” Rahal, who was 0.868mph from avoiding the LCQ, told RACER. “To start the week I was the quickest [RLL] car by what I thought was a little bit of a margin. All of a sudden, it’s not only swapped, but now I’m a mile an hour off, which makes zero sense at all. So we have to go back and look, and for sure when you look at and go, ‘RLL is in the same place,’ well, we’re not in the same place because the same place was five miles an hour off of Ganassi last year; we’re not five. But for sure, the Chevys are fast. It’s just a shock.”
For Ericsson, the crash on Thursday set his current situation in motion. If there’s a saving grace, it’s the fact that he was the fastest of the four slowest drivers heading into the LCQ.
“It’s strange that what we see out on track doesn’t match up with what it should be,” the Swede said. “It’s a backup car. For sure, [it’s] not ideal, but it shouldn’t be so far off. Our primary cars, our teammates are up there. We have fast cars and the team has been really, really doing a good job, so we don’t really understand how we can be struggling so much, but we have tonight to try and find out and then go out tomorrow and try and deliver.”
Nolan Siegel made a championship statement in the first race of the 2024 Indy NXT by Firestone season. The 19-year-old HMD Motorsports driver, who started from the pole, was never seriously challenged in leading all 45 laps at St. Petersburg. …
Nolan Siegel made a championship statement in the first race of the 2024 Indy NXT by Firestone season. The 19-year-old HMD Motorsports driver, who started from the pole, was never seriously challenged in leading all 45 laps at St. Petersburg.
Siegel, starting from the pole, was never seriously challenged in leading all 45 laps. masterfully executed the start of the race, then handled a pair of late restarts to score his third career series victory and third win in the past 11 races. His final margin over Jacob Abel was 1.3959s, but he led by nearly seven seconds before the first caution occurred.
Best of all, Siegel looked the part of the driver signed for four NTT IndyCar Series races this season by Dale Coyne Racing and, of course, a title favorite in this series.
“It feels amazing,” the driver of the No. 39 HMD Motorsports entry said in victory lane. “We’ve worked hard for this. First (series) pole this weekend, led every lap. (I) should have won here last year — I made a mistake and redeemed myself today.
“The car was fantastic; the pace was there. It made it easy to drive. I’m so happy to start the season this way.”
Even Siegel acknowledged what this domination means for the rest of the Indy NXT by Firestone season. Now, the field is chasing him.
“I think it’s definitely making a statement,” he said. “We’re going to be the car to beat this season and I’d like to keep it up front as much as possible all the way throughout the year.”
For the weekend performance, Siegel earned the maximum number of points – 54 – and will take a 14-point lead over Abel heading to the next race, the Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, April 28. Between now and then Siegel will drive Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18 Honda in the IndyCar $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club in Southern California on Sunday, March 24.
Abel was left to ponder what could have been. This second-place finish in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine was his third such result over the past two seasons, including following Siegel to the finish line last June at Road America. But Abel also deftly held back Louis Foster, another of the season’s championship favorites, in a spirited late-race, three-car battle for the podium positions behind Siegel.
Foster, who drives the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies entry of Andretti Global, finished third, with series rookie Michael d’Orlando grabbing fourth. D’Orlando was only four days removed from signing to drive the No. 3 Andretti Cape Indy NXT entry.
The season began relatively smoothly, with the first lap of the race nearly clean until Josh Pierson tried an inside pass of Jamie Chadwick entering Turn 13. Chadwick got the worst of the contact and was pushed wide in the No. 28 VEXT entry of Andretti Global. Pierson continued in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports car but was penalized for avoidable contact.
Siegel had his largest lead with 13 laps to go when rookie Bryce Aron hit the wall with Andretti Global’s No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield machine in Turn 10. That brought out the race’s first caution.
The second stoppage came four laps later when series newcomer Jack William Miller, the son of former IndyCar driver Dr. Jack Miller, bounced off the Turn 3 wall with the left side of the No. 40 Patterson Dental Haven Go by SAAM entry of Miller Vinatieri Motorsports entry. Neither he nor Aron was injured.
Reece Gold rounded out the top five in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports entry after being penalized three positions for improperly moving out of line at the start of the race. The field featured 21 car-and-driver combinations, the largest for a series-opening race since 2009.
