Josef Newgarden and family celebrated the win at the 108th running of the Indy 500 this weekend. As a nice bonus Newgarden also won the Indianapolis 500’s largest purse record was shattered for the third year in a row after winning $4.288 million from a total purse of $18,456,000. This year’s average payout for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers was $543,000, which also exceeds last year’s average of $500,600.
The race was delayed due to weather which has been a variable for the drivers off and on since the Sonsio grand prix a few weeks ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden who has faced backlash all year regarding his technical regulation violations and questionable push to pass tactics responded to the critics after the win. “They can say whatever they want after this point; I don’t care anymore,” Newgarden said of critics after the violations were discovered. “I’m just so proud of this team. They crushed it. Crushed it. Luke, Tim – they’re not here today, but they’re a huge part of this. I’m just so proud for everybody at Team Penske. That’s the way I wanted to win the thing, right there.”
Full Race Results
There were seven caution periods in the first 117 laps, as the race struggled to find a rhythm. But as the intensity ratcheted in the second half of the 200-lap race, the racing was breathtaking – and clean. There were 32 lead changes alone in the last 70 laps.
Alex Palou added another asset to his title defense by winning the Sonsio Grand Prix this past weekend. Palou was in positive form after securing his 10th NTT IndyCar win. After the race he said, “It was an amazing win, It’s great to be back-to-back from last year, and we’re going to continue this May. A win helps a lot, especially if it’s a pole and a win and the way we won it. We’re going to celebrate, for sure, but we’re going to switch this afternoon our focus to the big one.”
The Two-time and reigning champion Palou drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 6.611s victory over the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet of fellow two-time series champion Will Power. It was his second consecutive win in this event on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course at IMS. The race was a precursor to the legendary Indy 500. Practice for the event begins on Tuesday.
Full Event Results Below
The Following Article Was Not Written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
Press Release from the NTT INDYCAR Series…
INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, May 10, 2024) – Alex Palou started his defense of his 2023 Sonsio Grand Prix victory in the best way possible Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning the pole for this year’s race.
Two-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou earned his fourth career NTT P1 Award and his first since the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear last June. His best lap today in the Firestone Fast Six was 1 minute, 9.0004 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
SEE: Qualifying Results
The pole on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course came after Palou ended up 17th and 11th, respectively, in the two practice sessions today that preceded qualifying.
“It’s been a tough day, honestly,” Palou said. “Practice 1 and Practice 2 wasn’t amazing. Even the start of qualifying, too. So, really happy to be there. Didn’t expect it. I’ll take it.
“It was my mom’s birthday today, so it’s probably a good birthday present.”
Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. A 30-minute warmup session starts at 11:15 a.m., with live coverage on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Christian Lundgaard qualified second at 1:09:0921 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. This was his third consecutive front-row start on the IMS road course, as he won the pole for this event last May and started second in the Gallagher Grand Prix last August.
Two-time series champion Will Power will start third after his top qualifying lap of 1:09.1636 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Teammate Josef Newgarden will join Power in the second row of the starting grid after qualifying fourth at 1:09.2528 in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet.
The strong performances for Power and Newgarden came despite working this month without their respective strategists and key engineers. Team president and Newgarden strategist Tim Cindric, Power strategist Ron Ruzewski, Newgarden engineer Luke Mason and Power data engineer Robbie Atkinson were suspended by Team Penske for this event and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for their roles in the Push to Pass technical infractions found on the cars driven by Power, Newgarden and teammate Scott McLaughlin.
Pato O’Ward will start fifth after his best lap of 1:09.3320 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:09.5270 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi qualified a season-best seventh at 1:09.0801 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after missing the Firestone Fast Six by .0185 of a second. Rossi’s previous best start this season was 13th at Long Beach.
Series points leader Colton Herta faces a long climb in the race Saturday after qualifying a season-low 24th in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Herta’s car ran out of fuel on his final flying lap during the first round of qualifying. He led the first practice this morning.
This is Herta’s lowest qualifying position since he also started 24th for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear last June.
Scott McLaughlin won the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix for the second consecutive year at Barber Motorsports Park. McLaughlin again utilized a three-stop pit strategy in his No. 3 Penske Chevrolet to earn his first victory of the season. McLaughlin stated after the race, “We know our job, we know what we need to do,” McLaughlin said. “I’m just super proud of the execution. A couple of yellows didn’t fall our way, but we just showed our pace. We just keep rolling, man. [referring to the win at Barber] “Definitely one of my best drives in terms of execution and just knocking out the laps. Very happy we could advance to the checkered flag there and bring home a W for Team Penske and for Roger (Penske).”
Will Power finished in second ahead of Linus Lundqvist. Power who had faced adversity after receiving a push to play violation at St. Pete found the magic to find himself on the podium. Congratulating his teammate Power said, “(McLaughlin) did an amazing job with his speed when he needed it. We got that first yellow, we were okay, and then the way it started to kind of transpire with the yellow, the (Alexander) Rossi yellow, that really put us behind.
We were in a situation where he was going to pass a lot of cars. The Sting Ray Robb caution kind of brought us back into play. It was going to be “how fast can he go?” He got clear for six or seven laps there and put laps that were faster than anyone. About a second a lap for anybody. He pulled out and we were able to pit and get ahead of the No. 10 car before he came around. This is raw pace in the Verizon Chevy when we needed it.”
Race Highlights
Courtesy of NTT IndyCar Series/Penske EntertainmentFull Race Results
This article Scott Dixon is the king of the beach this year. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach concluded with Scott Dixon getting his season started off with a win in Long Beach. With his 57th victory in IndyCar Dixon held on to the lead with a closing Colton Herta behind. Dixon started the race in 8th place and made his way through the field but come the final laps of the race he found himself under pressure. “Honestly, I didn’t think we were going to make it, and they kept giving me a (fuel) number, and it just wasn’t getting … I was close but not enough,” he said. Luckily, we were on the safe side there.”
Dixon used his years of experience to his advantage while defending at the front. He said, “The stress level was high. Those guys were coming fast and strong. I think we were off by a lap or two of making it easy. Other fuel races I’ve done I’ve had it under control for the full stint.” Fuel became a factor toward the end of the race with Dixon having to balance power with longevity. Ultimately he got the job done. The NTT IndyCar Series released a recap video via YouTube.
Source: NTT IndyCar Series YouTubeFull Race Results from Long Beach
Qualifying for the IndyCar Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach concluded this afternoon and Felix Rosenqvist topped the tables setting a 1m6.017s lap in his No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. “It was hard,” Rosenqvist said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I had it because I had a big tank-slapper out of (Turn) 5. This is a hard-fought one. It doesn’t come easy. Every lap out there, you’re flirting with the walls. That was a fun one.”
The finish marked Rosenqvist’s first pole position with MSR. Will Power finished behind by a slim margin of 0.0039s. “Just getting into the (Firestone) Fast Six again is a big deal for me,” Power said. “I’ve been working hard on my qualifying. Been quick all year in practice, so super-stoked to transfer. Obviously, it’s a bit (tough) when you miss out by that much, but Felix must have done a phenomenal lap. I couldn’t pick anywhere where I made a mistake. It was about as good as I can do. Cool to get the Verizon car on the front row again. It’s been a long time. We can certainly win from there.”
See the Highlights from the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Full QUalifyign Results
The following article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
From IndyCar…
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Friday, April 19, 2024) – Pato O’Ward once again showed why he’s overdue for an NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory, leading practice Friday for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
O’Ward turned a top lap of 1 minute, 6.6874 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit. O’Ward finished second in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, as he seeks to earn his first series victory since July 2022 at Iowa Speedway, a dry spell of 24 races.
SEE: Practice Results
“The car is in the window, and we’ve been making small tweaks here and there,” O’Ward said. “Some things worked, some things didn’t work.”
Less than a second separated the top 15 drivers in the session Friday, setting up an exciting Saturday of practice and NTT P1 Award qualifying. Practice starts at 11:25 a.m. ET, followed by three rounds of qualifying starting at 2:25 p.m. Both sessions will be broadcast on Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Two-time series champion Will Power was the quickest of three Team Penske drivers in the top five Friday, ending up second at 1:06.7811 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Power won this prestigious event in 2008 and 2012.
Scott McLaughlin helped Chevrolet-powered teams sweep the first three spots on the time sheet, as he was third at 1:06.8258 in the No. 3 Odyssey Batteries Team Penske Chevrolet.
McLaughlin and Power finished in the top three despite both brushing the concrete barriers lining the tricky street circuit in separate incidents during the 75-minute session, which was divided into an all-car session to start and finished with two separate groups.
Felix Rosenqvist continued his early-season strong form by ending up fourth at 1:06.8600 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing. Rosenqvist moved to MSR this season after three years at Arrow McLaren, and he has responded by finishing seventh at St. Petersburg and third at the non-points The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge last month.
Series points leader Josef Newgarden rounded out the top five at 1:06.8976 in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden earned a dominant victory in the season opener at St. Petersburg.
Two rookies also captured headlines Friday under sunny skies in Southern California.
2023 INDY NXT by Firestone champion Christian Rasmussen was ninth overall at 1:07.2773 in the No. 20 Guy Care Chevrolet fielded by Ed Carpenter Racing, the quickest of the six rookies in the field by more than a second.
Reigning FIA Formula 2 champion Théo Pourchaire was the second-quickest rookie in his first-ever laps in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car, ending up 21st at 1:08.2857 in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Frenchman Pourchaire was summoned this week to drive for Arrow McLaren full-time driver David Malukas, who continues to recover from surgery to repair a wrist injury suffered in a preseason mountain biking accident.
Sunday’s 85-lap race will be at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
This big question surrounding this weekends visit to the streets of Long Beach is who will emerge as this weekends winner? The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is a semi technical race featuring multiple wide open straights and the tight technical turns you’d typically see on a street circuit. Given the limitations with track width and multiple corners the drivers have to navigate specific challenges not typically associated with the circle track races.
Kyle Kirkwood is looking to repeat his result from 2023 to secure a win for Andretti Global. Josef Newgarden currently leads the championship after a solid performance at St. Pete. However, with Pato O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin on the hunt this weekends outcome could be a bit less straight forward. Long Beach is one of those circuits where the cars slowly develop over the course of the race. If last years race was any indication of this year. The race will come down to the wire. Kirkwood won the race last year after starting from 20th. Tire management and race strategy will come into play especially as temperature rise this weekend.
For the Fans
Thursday evening will feature the Thunder Pit Stop Challenge where teams will go head-to-head in a two-round event in front of the grandstands between Turns 5 and 6. McLaughlin of Team Penske against Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing in the first semifinal and Santino Ferrucci of AJ Foyt Racing against Ericsson of Andretti Global in the second. The winners will meet for the championship.
2024 Spotters Guide
Full Race Weekend Schedule
Friday, Apr 19
Practice 1 5:50 PM – 7:05 PM ET
Saturday, Apr 20
Practice 2 11:25 AM – 12:25 PM ET
Qualifications – Round 1 Group 1 2:25 PM – 2:35 PM ET
Qualifications – Round 1 Group 2 2:50 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Qualifications – Round 2 3:15 PM – 3:25 PM ET
Qualifications – Firestone Fast 6 3:40 PM – 3:55 PM ET
Sunday, Apr 21
Warmup 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM ET
Race 3:30 PM – 5:45 PM ET
From NTT INDYCAR Series
Rain showers continued to move through the Indianapolis area today as Spring conditions roll into the area. As a result, day two of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Open Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been canceled. Due to the cancellation, open testing was cancelled due to safety concerns.
Combined, 34 drivers turned a total of 1,327 laps in sessions that featured adjusted start times in anticipation of weather. Teams will return to IMS on Friday, May 10 for practice and qualifying ahead of the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 11 on the IMS road course. Practice for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 14, with the race scheduled for Sunday, May 26.The next event for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 21 on the Streets of Long Beach. Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock. Coverage is also available from the INDYCAR Radio Network via the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA and SiriusXM channel 218.
This article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, April 10, 2024) – Josef Newgarden must like the view from the top at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as he was fastest Wednesday in the rain-shortened first day of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Open Test.
Reigning “500” winner Newgarden turned the fastest lap during the morning session on the 2.5-mile oval, 228.811 mph, in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden also led the Indy 500 Open Test in 2022 and last year, when he returned in May to earn his first victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” after a scintillating, last-lap duel with 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson.
“We’re not trying to do it because I had no idea,” Newgarden said of leading the Open Test for a third straight year. “I didn’t know it was three years in a row. We want to check off things on our list. Obviously, it’s been right at the front, which is a good sign.”
The first day of testing, which featured separate sessions for veterans, and Rookie Orientation Program and refresher tests, was halted numerous times by passing raindrops, including one midday delay of 67 minutes. Heavier showers arrived shortly after 2 p.m. ET to end on-track activity.
Testing is scheduled to resume from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ET Thursday, with live coverage in the United States on Peacock and live international coverage on INDYCAR LIVE.
While it was little surprise to see NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval master Newgarden atop the speed chart, the second-fastest driver raised eyebrows and anticipation in equal measure. 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson clocked in second at 226.384 in the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet as he prepares for his first start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” while also attempting the “Hendrick 1100” double of racing at Indy and in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26.
“Getting in some traffic and feeling the turbulent air,” Larson said. “The first time I got in traffic, I think my tires still had good grip, so I was surprised. It didn’t feel that different in traffic. Then the last time, I was building understeer, and Newgarden got by me and I was super tight behind him.
“I’m just trying to learn all that and process all that and knowing what I can do in the car to cope with that. I’m just trying to figure out any bit of racecraft today, which I know is tough. Just get notes in my head and all that.”
2008 Indy 500 winner and six-time series champion Scott Dixon was third at 226.346 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, followed by reigning series champion and teammate Alex Palou at 226.201 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Colton Herta rounded out the top five at 225.907 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. Herta was the only driver among the top five to turn his best lap in the brief afternoon session before testing was washed out.
All three veterans requiring refresher tests – Marco Andretti, Pietro Fittipaldi and Katherine Legge – completed that program. Christian Rasmussen, Kyffin Simpson and Nolan Siegel each finished the three-phase Rookie Orientation Program.
The 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 26. Practice opens Tuesday, May 14, with PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19.
Full test Result are Below