Montoya Gets In Groove At Arrow McLaren SP As Newgarden Tops The Charts With Penske At IMS Practice Day 2

Scoring Pylon at Day 1 of open testing during a break soon after some rain. Image Credit: Matt Fraver via NICS (2021) 

Montoya Gets In Groove At Arrow McLaren SP As Newgarden Tops The Charts With Penske At IMS Practice Day 2

INDY 500 Champion Juan Pablo Montoya and 2-Time INDYCAR SERIES Champion Josef Newgarden discuss 2021 season opening two-day practice, at speed and traffic, held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Thursday April 8 & Friday April 9.

A lot was learned, but mostly, those who have already had winning success at a track that holds "the greatest spectacle in racing" showed the better results in pace over these two days of shakedown.

Fact is, any one of the top 15 in the combined speed timing charts would be an easy bet with luck to take home the 105th Running Of The INDY 500 Borg Warner Trophy here in 2021.

Top 15 for three sessions of practice at IMS. Image Credit: NICS (2021)

Josef Newgarden, thirsting for his first INDY 500 win, posted the fastest speed of Friday and the test overall, 226.819 mph, in the No. 2 Chevrolet where Juan Pablo Montoya, Who had won the INDY 500 in 2000 & 2015, posted up at P3 (226.123) in his No. 86 Chevrolet (behind last year's, and 2-time winner, Takuma Sato), is back for another attempt to capture the glory after finishing so close (P6, 2017) last time out.

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Friday, April 9, 2021 - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Juan Pablo Montoya - Arrow McLaren SP

Josef Newgarden - Penske Racing

Press Conference - Post IMS Practice Day #2

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. We have Juan Pablo Montoya standing by and we expect to have Josef Newgarden, as well. Juan Pablo finished third on the speed chart, pretty successful day with Arrow McLaren SP.

How was your day today, Juan Pablo?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: It was good. I think yesterday was a little shocking getting back in the car. Today was good. We worked through a lot of things. We found a lot of good things and a lot of bad things, like you always do.

It was nice to get back a little bit in the draft. A lot to catch up again, learn, understand again what you need to do, the timing. But everything just starts coming back.

It's funny, getting up to speed yesterday was, Ooh. Today you don't even think about it. This afternoon even better. The first few runs with traffic is like, Ooh. Then you start relaxing, getting in the flow of things. We did some pit stops at the end.

Everyone at Arrow McLaren SP has been doing a very good job. It was fun so far. I think this test was very, very useful.

THE MODERATOR: Yesterday you never really had to do a rookie orientation, refresher program. You had to go through that yesterday, didn't you?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yes. I was joking to the engineers, said I'm going to run 214.9, 215.1. My second lap was 215.1, then 214.9, 215.2. I'm going, We need to be below 215 (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: You have to go slow before you can go fast.

If you have a question for the two-time Indy 500 champion, go ahead.

Q. I wanted to ask, appeared to be that your car could go pretty much anywhere on the track. When you dropped back, you were able to slice back through the field. Is that because the aerodynamics, the aero changes, are so good, or because your particular car, the 86, is so strong at the moment?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I felt okay. I didn't feel as good as you said. It's great that it looks like that. I did pass few cars and everything, I could move, I could change, I felt pretty decent at parts.

The thing is, remember, every run you do, you change something. You don't keep the same car, keep doing things. You always trying to improve the feeling, improve the car to maybe be more consistent in clean air, more consistent in the draft, things like that.

As you go through those things, there's some runs that you go out there, you're just in the way, and you hate it. I said like three times today, Hell, I'm not doing this. Actually the word wasn't 'hell' but I'm using the polite word. I said, I'm not doing this and I bailed.

One of them actually bailed and really scared the hell out of me in three and four. I lifted and I didn't even do turn one. I went in the deceleration lane. I'm not doing this (laughter).

Q. Do you feel as well as being fast that your car was actually handling quite well in traffic? Could you kind of like run directly behind someone or do you still need quite a lot of clean air?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: You always need a lot of clean air. Even before this, even the old cars, you need a lot of clean air. With these cars, I think for me personally you still notice the difference.

It's a shame, yeah, I mean, that we didn't -- some people tried the 'push to pass', they did the other test. But it would make racing quite more wild, I think. I know some people don't want wild.

Josef Newgarden prepares to take to the 2.5 mile oval for practice. He didn't know then that his expertly prepared Penske Racing Chevrolet would post the best pace. Image Credit: Chris Jones via NICS (2021)

THE MODERATOR: Also joining us here in the Zoom room, we welcome in the two-time NTT INDYCAR Series champion, Josef Newgarden, as well.

Josef, tell us about your day. Quickest in that session, 226.819 miles per hour.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it was a pretty good day.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Are you driving?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, not yet. I'm still in the parking lot. Where are you?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I'm in the garage working. We got meetings and things. We love meetings.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Are you trying a new approach this year?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: No, I'm trying to avoid the meetings, but they still make me go.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it was a pretty good day. I was happy enough with the car. I think we still need some work, for sure.

But just to get an initial read on where we're at, obviously there's a lot of new parts, differences to the last couple years. So we're just trying to assess what we need to really work on now these last couple weeks before we get back here in May.

Pretty happy. I felt the Shell Fuel Rewards car looked good. Had some decent speed, which is always nice to see, but doesn't mean much when it comes to race day. We'll see how we shake out as we get to the meat of things in the month of May.

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions.

Q. Juan, wondering how this year's car compares to 2015 and 2000?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: How does it compare? How does the car compare? This is engineer right here (laughter).

They're a little harder to drive, I think. I think the difference between clear air and dirty air is a little bigger. I think the changes from what INDYCAR did, from what everybody says, it's a little harder as before, but not that bad. Put it that way.

Q. What about an extra hundred horsepower?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: After running today, I would be a big fan of that 'push to pass', to be honest.

Q. Josef, how was the Chevy today?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Good. I think Chevy has done a great job, as evidenced with Juan as well. I think the McLaren boys are quick. I think we feel pretty good about things.

I think they've definitely made improvements, and we needed to in the off-season. We all did. Us as a team, I think Chevrolet, we all got together and looked where we were weakest. I think there was a little bit to go around on all sides. They've really stepped up.

We put in a lot of effort. I think we found some good stuff. It's getting hard nowadays. These gains you're looking to find are so small. I think they've managed to find a decent chunk, which is impressive with how far along we are. Very encouraged with Chevrolet.

Q. With the aero changes they were working on in the off-season, bringing them in for the 500 to increase passing, did you notice a difference between last year's aero package compared to this year's?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yes, definitely. It's easier to follow. It's still tough. You'll still get a big front wash in traffic. 10 cars back, it's always going to be difficult. But I think they've made the ability to follow better. That balance separation between clean air and dirty air is definitely reduced.

Some of them are tricky to drive, some of these parts. I think you're seeing some split camps here along pit lane. Not everybody is running the same stuff. That's been interesting to watch. There's more downforce on the car. I think the balance shift in traffic is less.

Yeah, the ability that we're going to have to race compared to last year will be better.

Q. Any restaurant recommendations for Nashville?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Man, there's plenty. If you're into coffee, Barista Parlor. Hot chicken, Hattie Bs. The Southern is very good. There's a lot of good spots. Those are a few.

Q. Juan, this is your first time with the Aeroscreen now. How long did it take you to get used to it? Your thoughts on it so far?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: It wasn't too bad to get used to it. I thought it would be a little more intrusive. It's definitely a pain in the butt to get in and out of the car, and it's a lot hotter. I know like here it hasn't been that bad in the oval. I did a test in Laguna. In a road course, you don't get a lot of air. That was kind of shocking.

Yeah, I mean, it's kind of weird because, like, you're really in a little bubble. It feels a little bit once you're driving like a sports car.

But you're with a closed visor, I still don't get why you have to run -- I don't think you have to. I think you probably do, but I'm used to sports cars. Same thing you're with the visor open so you get a little more air.

It's good. It's fine. I think from the safety point of view, it's a great thing. It's a matter of getting used to it more than anything else.

Q. Some of the guys last year talked about it was harder to find a limit with the open cockpit. Did you find it harder to find a limit in your car today?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: No, because I come from a sports car and a closed cockpit car. For me, it's the same thing. It doesn't really change that much. I think for the guys that are used to the open cockpit, might be a little harder.

I've driven a lot of closed cars. Last four years, I've mainly been driving sports cars, P2 cars. Feels about the same.

Q. Josef, how much did you notice any differences in the car today from the test last October?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: When were we here? I thought it was the beginning of November.

Q. When you tested these configurations.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It's identical to the final config that we ran in November. From then it's the same. Literally the last that config that we ran is what you can put on the car, at least the maximum amount. It's pretty similar to what we tested, I mean, the same.

Q. The weather conditions play a role today with traffic?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, I think it was a pretty easy day. It was pretty ideal conditions. Not too hot. Certainly not too cold. A little bit windy. That was probably the most difficult part about the day, was the wind, the movement of the car. Pretty standard for this place. You're always kind of fighting that depending where it's coming from. It's always playing a factor.

Weather wasn't an issue. It was a pretty easy day, for the most part, to be honest.

Q. I noticed the turn two trap speed chart, seems like the guys at the top of the speed chart were good there. Is that one of the more important corners to get right at this track?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think that was probably the most difficult corner as far as wind today. For most of the day you had a tailwind going into two, you had the side wind on the track. It could catch you out. It was difficult in traffic to get it right. Someone was having a big tow, it was one of the tougher corners to get right. That's probably why you saw the cars that were quick and good, they were typically pretty good through two, as well.

Q. I know yesterday probably had to be a little bit of a frustrating day. What kind of energy and excitement do you get from a day like this where you have eight, nine cars running in packs? Does a day like this on the track really invigorate you to get this season started here?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: For me personally, I think it's definitely a huge thing. I know yesterday we didn't run as much as we could. In a way, I'm pretty happy it worked out that way. We did the refresher. We did installation up in the morning. I had a look at everything the other guys were doing, just to relax with the guys and everything. It wasn't too bad.

At the end of the day we managed to get the refresher done. It was good. It was good because it still feels like this place is fast. When you do it often, you lose the appreciation of how fast you go. It was nice to get a night's sleep on it. Yesterday when I was done, I was like, This place is quick. Today it was like, Aah, it's normal. So it was nice.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, obviously for someone like Juan, this test is great. Even for all of us that have been regulars here, this is a great test to have, to give a warmup for the month of May. It felt like the month of May, to be honest with you, typical day to start out.

Yeah, pretty happy we got this peek into the future.

THE MODERATOR: We want to say thank you to Juan Pablo Montoya for stopping by. Appreciate you doing so after a couple busy days. The month of May will be here before we know it.

We'll continue with Josef Newgarden.

Q. A couple of the engineers and a few of the other drivers were conjecturing that with the package the way it is, it's going to be two cars, the second-place car will kind of have an advantage. They think anything further back than two cars you might have five cars running in a pack, but the fifth-place car and fourth-place car don't have much of a shot. Does it feel that way to you?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, certainly last year that was the case. I think you have a better opportunity this year looking at the amount of downforce we have, the balance shift in and out of traffic. I think you have a better opportunity to fight for the win in the third or fourth car in line.

I think more than that, you are a quick car during the race, you somehow find yourself in the back, I think you have a better opportunity of making your way forward. Those two elements will automatically help the show. But you don't want to have it so easy where we're packed up the entire field the entire time. I think that's something that you would want to avoid.

It's a balancing act. I think it will be a lot better than last year as far as the ability to race up front. Time will tell. But I think you'll have a better show.

Q. In Happy Hour we saw some pretty good passing and some dicing around out there. Some of the drivers said the dicing was a little bit by design. When you have these test sessions, do you go in with the mindset of trying different things to see how they work so when you're back here when it matters you'll know what it's going to do?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, definitely. We're constantly trying to assess everything. Today we were spot checking some qualifying stuff early on. We got into race running, just tried to focus on how our cars were in race traffic.

At the end of the day that's going to be probably the most important thing. Yeah, when we're out there running, it's for real. There's people that drop back every now and then. That's not real passes. As far as the way we're running in line, we're trying to simulate it as much as the race.

It's very much the real deal what people are seeing.

Q. Considering you're one of the more we'll say older statesmen now at Penske Racing. These days you've just had at Indy, how valuable are they for someone like Scott McLaughlin?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Tremendously. Scott has been so much fun to be around because he's truly a rookie in INDYCAR. Everything that he does is like the coolest thing ever. So to see that perspective again after having been here myself for 10 years, it's just really fun. It's really fun to see that through his eyes.

But it's a very valuable day. He's soaking everything up. Every moment he's getting better. He's doing a really good job trying to take time, ask a lot of questions, pay attention to every detail. He's really switched on. He's a smart race car driver. He's doing all the right things to figure out how to be good in this category.

I think you can come to expect that. I think he will be very competitive this year. So, yeah, valuable day for him, for sure.

Q. For Roger, what do you think this means to him, building up to what could be a great month of May this year by comparison to what we had last year?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Certainly, Roger has a lot of pride in this place, and he should. This is an amazing facility. He is a very deserving captain to lead this ship. I think we're all pretty happy that he's at the helm of it.

He's beaming to be out here every day. He's always excited, excited for what we're doing as a team, but more excited for what the Speedway is doing. There's no one that wants fans here more than Roger, I can tell you that. I think if we get a semi-filled up crowd, he's going to be a very happy man. We're all going to be very happy.

This place was built for fans. That's what this track is all about. We get to the month of May, have some people in the stands, it's going to be good for everybody.

Q. To Barber, how important is it to get points on the board early on and kick-start the season in the most positive way?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it's always important. I always tell people, I tell the team, Let's get on the board today. We don't need to win the race, but we need to score some points, have a good showing, set ourselves up for a good year.

That's what we try to do. That's what we're going to try to do next weekend.

Q. Did you get a feel for how the Chevy and Honda balance power is at the moment? I realize it's difficult in these conditions to judge. We all know what happened last year. You guys were powerful but didn't have the fuel economy.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it's hard to say. It looks a lot more even this year, is what I would say at the moment. Someone could obviously be miles ahead by the time we get to the month of May. It's possible. But I would say it looks a lot more even right now than where we were at last year.

We're all excited about that. I think Chevrolet has done a great job. It's going to provide an interesting show for everybody.

Q. Did you check out how far you could go on a tank of fuel, turbo boost level, fuel rich level?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, we didn't do a lot of economy stuff today. We just did it -- I didn't run through any mixtures. I think there's still some questions to be answered in the month of May. We were trying to check off some bigger team item stuff.

Chevy has more manpower than just us at Team Penske. Not sure what they're up to. We're going to debrief with them after a test like this. We're pushing. I think we're going to be in a good spot looking at the initial information.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Josef Newgarden.

[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

Race fans tuning in on Peacock saw an afternoon full drivers of drafting for position down the main straightaway and the backstretch and exciting passes into the corners, all causing one to salivate at the thought of the increased on-track competition we can expect to see next month. Image Credit: Chris Jones via NICS (2021)

This Field Is Close!

By Zach Horrall | Published: Apr 10, 2021 - Post 2-Day Test @ INDYCAR.COM

Team Penske posted a strong showing at the Indy 500 Open Test, potentially a sign of what’s to come, as Josef Newgarden posted the fastest speed of Friday and the test overall, 226.819 mph, in the No. 2 Chevrolet. His teammates were seventh (Will Power), 11th (Simon Pagenaud) and 18th (Scott McLaughlin).

Team Penske had an off year by its standards in 2020 at Indianapolis, as Newgarden led the team with a fifth-place finish, the only top 10 the team produced last year in the “500.”

“It was a really just a nice preview of the Month of May to kind of validate some of the work we’ve done at the shop,” Newgarden said. “We’ve tried to make our cars quicker, inherently, by themselves and make them better in traffic. Those are the two ingredients here to be fast and win races. I think we’re in a better spot. It feels that way. I’m really happy with my Shell Fuel Rewards car, and I think Chevy has done a great job. We know we needed to be better, and I think we’ve shown up with better weapons. I’m excited to get back here for the Month of May.”

However, Team Penske was just inches ahead of the rest of the field.

The separation between the 31 NTT INDYCAR SERIES cars Friday was just one and a half seconds from leader Newgarden to slowest Cody Ware. Sato was just .0742 of a second slower than Newgarden,

Sato hit that top speed while running in one of the many multi-car packs that hit the track Friday afternoon. 

Additionally, the 10 fastest speeds were evenly split between the series’ two manufacturers, Chevrolet and Honda. While a Chevrolet driver paced the overall field, it was Honda that had the fastest no-tow speed.

If race fans take anything away from the Indy 500 Open Test, it’s that the field that is expected to return for the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 30 will be separated by just mere car lengths as 33 of the best drivers in the world battle for racing immortality at the Racing Capital of the World.

ENDS

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: Juan Pablo Montoya, Josef Newgarden, Penske Racing, Arrow McLaren SP, INDY 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, 2021, 105th Running, Practice, The EDJE

Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

Ed Jones discusses the finer points of tackling the oval track at IMS during the INDY500 session activity in 2018. Ed qualified his Ganassi Racing No. 10 NTT Data Honda at P29 and ended his run on Lap 57 when he lost control in Turn 2 having him listed as finishing P30. Image Credit: EJR Facebook Page (2018)

Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

People love to speculate, "What would it have been like if ..." when looking over the arch of a driving career and the relationships garnered along the way.

Well, with British/UAE driver Ed Jones back on the Dale Coyne Racing paddock with Jimmy Vasser calling signals in the box, in 2021 fans may see the culmination of experiences in the side trips to Ganassi Racing with Dario Franchitti in the team coaching role, and Ed Carpenter and his long association with the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One can not wait for what the second chapter in this Coyne/Jones union, sponsored through SealMaster, will garner to this 17 race season.

All on the team believe that Podiums are the intended goal and all believe they have the experience to deliver on this goal.

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Dale Coyne - Dale Coyne Racing

Jimmy Vasser - Vasser Sullivan Racing

Ed Jones - Driver, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan, No. 18 SealMaster Honda

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning to everyone, first and foremost. Certainly glad you could join us for a huge announcement from Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan. We'll begin with some introductions.

Dale Coyne is set to begin, we did the math, his 38th year in INDYCAR competition. The former driver, now long time owner of Dale Coyne Racing. Jimmy Vasser is on the phone, former INDYCAR Series champ, turned team owner, winner of the 2013 Indianapolis with than Tony Kanaan as a driver. Fourth season in his partnership with Dale Coyne. Great to see Ed Jones returning to the NTT INDYCAR Series, announcing earlier this morning that Ed will be the driver of the No. 18 Team SealMaster Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda during the 2021 season. Ed, of course, 2017 Rookie of the Year in the series, 2016 Indy Lights champion, a total of 47 starts in the NTT INDYCAR Series with 14 top-10 finishes.

We'll begin with Dale. Congratulations. A reunion of sorts. How good is it to have Ed back?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy to have Ed back. We were happy with him a couple years ago when he drove for us. He didn't put an asterisk by that third at Indy. He had a hole in the nose of his car. He touched somebody's gearbox, put a hole in the nose of his car. We couldn't figure out why he was so quick in the corners and slow in the straights. It turned out it was a drag penalty for that hole, otherwise he might have been two positions higher, which really would have been something.

But, no, Ed is a great friend of the team. My wife, myself, we all get along really well. So we're very happy to have him back. As I told Ed when we were talking about all this, we both have unfinished business. We're very much looking forward to a competitive year.

THE MODERATOR: That might be the theme for you in 2021 for sure.

We'll move to Ed right now. 2020, as you know, was different for all of us in so many ways. Different for you, too, without a ride. How did you pass the time last year and how excited are you to be back in the NTT INDYCAR Series?

ED JONES: First of all, it's great to be back. As you said, 2020 was different for everyone. Unfortunately the ride that I had fell through with COVID there. So it was a different year for me a year where I didn't do very much driving.

One side of that was a negative, on the other it was a good time to reflect on things, get recharged. I actually did a lot of sim racing.

I've been back not in the INDYCAR but in some other cars the last few weeks. Feel as good as ever. It's really been fantastic to join up with Dale again, with Vasser Sullivan this time. As Dale said, we have unfinished business. Had a really strong rookie year. Just really looking forward to hitting the floor running, getting back to the standard that we were at.

THE MODERATOR: Do you care to get into how all this came about?

ED JONES: I've always kept in contact with Dale. I've been fortunate where I have a good relationship with pretty much everyone in the paddock, and I'm able to talk to people quite often.

After the year out, I knew I really wanted to be back in INDYCAR. I was talking to Dale, seeing what we could figure out. Things took quite a bit of time. It all came through in the end. That's what's important.

As Dale said, we've had a great relationship. I know a lot of the guys at the team already. Having that extra partnership of Vasser Sullivan, continuing their success, is something I'm really excited to get going with.

THE MODERATOR: Jimmy, what could Ed do for your race team during 2021?

JIMMY VASSER: He's going to jump back where he left off with his consistency. You look at his numbers, 30% of his INDYCAR starts have been in the top 10. So he's a finisher, and he's consistent.

I think also he gives us a chance to fight for the Indy 500. Three starts, third and a sixth. In my opinion, should have been Rookie of the Year at the 500, but that's a whole 'nother story.

DALE COYNE: Co-rookie.

JIMMY VASSER: Right.

We're excited and energized for the 500, what he can bring. Again, just echo what I said about his consistency. I can tell you all our stakeholders and partners are really stoked to have Ed coming onboard. This is going to be good.

Dale, you might have mentioned there's some unfinished business there. The cars particularly on the ovals have proven to be very quick, so we're excited.

THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up for questions.

Q. Ed, they talked about your experience, your expertise, your engineering background. Also returning to this team there's got to be the comfort level. You've worked with these guys before. How important is that comfort level coming back to the team?

ED JONES: Yeah, for sure. Although I had two full seasons in INDYCAR, it was with different teams every year. It's always hard to keep some consistency there. So it's really nice to go back to Dale. As I said, I'm familiar with the team and all the guys there. It should help a lot getting back into things. I've already been in contact with everyone. I'm just really looking forward to that.

It's a different dynamic to what I've had in the past, as I said. Changing teams every year hasn't been ideal, something which I think should be positive going forward.

Q. According to the release today, it said that last year there were issues with traveling because of the COVID situation. Was that from the Dubai standpoint or in Europe?

ED JONES: Well, last year I was meant to race in DTM. Every series in the world, everything in the world, got delayed. The partners I had there weren't so keen after what was going on, so that was the reason why I didn't participate in that last year.

That was the time when I started thinking about INDYCAR, how we could get back into that. Yeah, it was frustrating. As I said, it was frustrating for everyone. You had to deal with it, work on yourself, see how you can make yourself better to be racing again in INDYCAR.

Q. Dale, I'll spin the comfort level question around from your end. How comforting is it to get a guy back like Ed that you've worked with before because you already have an idea what he can do, how he interacts with the team?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy about him. He has a new engineer this year, Ross Bunnell, who has been with us, worked with him before. They like each other, know each other from the past.

Ross was actually ready to move up as an engineer last year. We held him for one more year. He's really ready for the challenge. He is a diamond in the rough. He's going to be a great engineer.

What Ed is really going to enjoy is having Jimmy Vasser in his ear on the radio. Jimmy keeps you pretty pumped up there, so it will be good.

Q. What can you tell us about the status of the 19?

DALE COYNE: We hope to announce our other driver next week.

Q. Ed, after the DTM ride fell through, what did you do all year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I didn't race. I did a few different things. Actually went back to studying, did some MIT courses, which was a bit different for me (smiling).

Otherwise, the only racing I did last year was at Goodwood, racing in the Goodwood Revival, in an AC Cobra. Very different to an INDYCAR. What I also was doing was a lot of sim racing. Although it's not the same, a lot of the drivers are very competitive on there. It was good to keep sharp.

As I said, once I got back in the car finally, I felt like I was right back there. I didn't feel like I'd been away. Although it wasn't ideal, I did the most I could to keep ready and keep fit. I think it will put me in good stead for when I get back in the INDYCAR next month.

Q. Can you tell me more about the studying you did.

ED JONES: Yeah, so I did artificial intelligence, digital business management. It was different. I hadn't studied for 10 years, so it was just something I wanted to do to keep myself busy and learn something new. Probably not what other drivers did, but yeah.

Q. Did you say you did this through MIT?

ED JONES: Yeah, I did. It was online courses.

Q. What did you learn?

ED JONES: Artificial intelligence, about how businesses and companies use it to take advantage of big data. Yeah, very different to what I need for racing, but something I was always interested in, how things are evolving.

On one thing with the data, it's something you can use into motorsport, maybe not from a driver perspective, but with data on handling how you use testing the car and things like that. Through simulation, as well.

It's something which can be beneficial in the future, and something which maybe isn't really important for me now, but something I could use in times to come.

Q. Ed, you mentioned from being almost out of the car entirely, in any car entirely in 2020, to going to kind of a leadership role or presumed leadership role with Dale Coyne Racing this year. Do you feel there are any adjustments or a learning curve you'll have to make specifically with a little bit new car with the Aeroscreen that we have, just a somewhat new role, similar to what you had been doing earlier in your career, hopping from team to team previously?

ED JONES: Yeah, it is different. But I'm fortunate that I have the team around me which is going to allow me to make everything work. I don't feel fazed at all by what is going to happen. I feel confident we're going to be strong from the get-go.

Although it's different circumstances in '17 when Seb had his injury, I had to kind of take lead of the team for a while then. Obviously it's different now, but not something which I haven't done in the past. Even in junior categories, I had to take the lead role quite often.

No, I'm looking forward to it. A new challenge. As I said, I'm happy that I have the Dale Coyne guys. Jimmy Vasser there will be a great addition. The experience from him will help me fast track everything I need to do. Yeah, hope that we can get it done.

Q. Beyond the familiarity you have with this team, with Dale specifically, what excites you the most or what helped push you toward saying yes to this? Obviously a racing driver wants to be in the car as much as possible, and this was an opportunity to do that. Beyond the ability to get back to the INDYCAR Series, the familiarity you already have, what is the biggest excitement for you?

ED JONES: Yeah, so for me there was many options in different categories to race in this year. The way 2019 went for me was really disappointing, my last year in INDYCAR at the moment. It bugged me. I knew it didn't reflect what level I could compete at. There's a lot of young guys in there doing well, and I beat most of them in junior categories, things like that. I know what level I'm at. I know it didn't reflect that. I knew I needed to get back to INDYCAR, prove what I can do.

That's exactly the reason why I pursued this so hard. In a way I was very frustrated about it. For that reason I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to get back and really give it everything.

As you said in 2017 we had a good run going, but you can't just think of it like that, that it's going to be all great again. You've got to put in the work. I'm going to make sure I get the team around me and do everything we can to make that happen.

Q. Dale, after the 2017 season you left the season finale feeling like you were going to be returning and working with Ed for at least another year, had a handshake agreement that fell apart. You said you always stayed in touch. Doesn't sound like there was necessarily any bad blood or anything you had to work out in order to make this deal possible for this year.

DALE COYNE: No, I mean, we lost Ed to Ganassi. Last year we lost Alex to Ganassi. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. People come to our team and want to prove themselves. Obviously everybody wants to drive for Penske or Ganassi. If they can do a nice job with us and move up, that's good for us. That's not bad for us. That's good for us.

We understood what he did, why he did it. It's business. Like I say, we did remain friends through all that. Here we are back together again.

Q. Dale, obviously the guy who Ed is replacing, Santino, one of his strengths was ovals, probably his main strength. Ed has not raced ovals other than the 500 since 2018. Are you confident that you can get Ed performing as well as you did Santino?

DALE COYNE: Yes. I think Santino was a very good racer on the ovals, maybe not as good a qualifier. I think Ed is the same way. I think Ed is a very good racer on the ovals.

We have worked very hard on our 500 cars every year. We've arguably been the fastest Honda the last four years, given a couple situations here or there. I think we've got a good car for Indy. Ed showed he can qualify well with Carpenter there and race well. I think Indy, very much looking forward to Indianapolis.

Q. Ed, are you confident about getting back into the swing of it, especially now that this is your first time with the Aeroscreen on an oval?

ED JONES: Yeah. I feel like I've always been strong on ovals, short ovals especially. To be honest, if I could race INDYCAR ovals every weekend, that would be my dream thing (smiling). It's something which I love to do.

Although the windscreen is different, it's just one of the things you've got to get used to. I changed from old aero kits to the new aero kit. It's not a problem. Just something you have to adapt to and it won't be an issue.

Q. Lack of testing available isn't a worry for you?

ED JONES: Well, I'm pretty sure everyone else gets the same amount. I should be fine. Although I didn't drive last year, I still feel sharp. People came out from longer breaks in the past and get back on it. Yeah, I have no worries about that.

The most important thing is we work well together as a team. I'm confident we can do that. As long as we have that sorted, two days, three days, it will be enough.

DALE COYNE: The other teams went out to Barber for a day and Sebring for a day. I think we've got our three days. INDYCAR moved the window a little later so we're able to do those three days now with the drivers that drive for us. We'll get our second driver done, then we'll get out testing three days February and get our testing done in a hurry.

Wheels up across the rumble strips that define the inside of Turn 5 of the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Here in his first year in IndyCar, he is driving the Dale Coyne No. 19 Boy Scouts Of America sponsored Dallara Honda where he qualified 13th and finished the race at P6. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Q. Ed, you came in 2017 as a 20-year-old. How have you grown since that point and how do you think that will help you this year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I think, as you said, when I came in in 2017, I was still very new to everything in America. I had two years in Indy Lights which went well. But, yeah, you learn so much through the early years in INDYCAR.

As I was saying, yeah, as a rookie in the first two years you can always put in some very good results, but it's very hard to be consistently at the front. That comes with experience.

Yeah, I had seasons where maybe the success/reward didn't go so well and it didn't work out. Now I've learned from that. I feel like that although the year out isn't ideal, I feel I've also progressed in many ways. I think that I can come back stronger and have a better shot at racing.

Q. Jimmy, this is your third or fourth season now with Dale. What is it about partnering up with him that you guys enjoy?

JIMMY VASSER: We're like minded. This will be our fourth year, by the way. Dale has been in for 38 years I guess is the number, right? We like that Dale is always going to be here.

I think we really complement each other as two organizations. It takes a village. It's so difficult to try to fight the Penskes and Ganassis and Andrettis of the world, all the way down through the paddock these days, it's so hard. We're able to pool all of our resources and pull against the rope together.

I think we've shown going into our fourth season that it has given success.

British race team Carlin's United Arab Emirates driver Ed Jones negotiates Turn 4 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Jones was currently sitting at P3 in the IndyLights season points championship where he ended the 2015 season - he did lead the most laps and won the 2015 TGPLB IndyLights race ahead of the Pole Award winner, Jack Harvey. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Q. Ed, obviously you know the team from the past. I guess you kind of know INDYCAR well enough now. What kind of expectations do you go in with this year specifically? Have you set specific goals for yourself in terms of wins, podiums, top 10s or anything like that? What would you be happy with at the end of 2021?

ED JONES: We haven't set targets exactly. But you always go out there because you want to win. The competition is very tough. I think the driver level is the toughest it's ever been. The level of the teams is extremely high. I'm really confident that we'll put things together, we can finish on the podium. Ultimately we want to win the Indy 500.

Again, INDYCAR is so tough now that to get a win, you've got to have everything right. It's all about pulling up all those different aspects. The team has had some great success in the SealMaster car.

I remember the first year they ran that livery in 2018, I had just left the team, Seb was running at St. Pete, they won the race. I thought that is the (indiscernible) car and something I want to drive in the future.

The addition of the guys with Jimmy there, the experience he brings, I really want to target to get back up to speed immediately. As I said, it's very tough. Top 10s from the beginning would be great, but then you want to progress up to the podium again, ultimately fight for wins.

I know it's a tough path, a tough ask, but I really believe that as a team, together we can challenge for that.

Q. Dale, I've got to be the unpopular guy and ask the difficult question. There's a lot of talk about Romain Grosjean being linked to your team for next season. You said you're hoping to announce your driver next week. Can you say if there's any mutual interest there or if you're speaking to Romain, if you're interested in him for this season?

DALE COYNE: You all could make a list of a hundred drivers, we've talked to probably every one of them this winter. Employed, unemployed, America, Europe, every country. It's been kind of amazing.

Obviously Romain is a good driver. We'd love to have him. We're working on a few other ones as well. Hopefully we get all that buttoned up and make an announcement next week and then get out to testing in February.

Q. Ed, it's been sort of talked about briefly within this chat, but your relationship with Jimmy Vasser, how far back does that go? How did it kind of come about? How do you two work together so well?

ED JONES: Yeah, so I haven't worked with Jimmy in the past. Ever since my rookie year, Jimmy was always there. We would have a chat here and there.

It's great when you have a lot of respect for the past champions and guys that have done amazing in INDYCAR before. So I've always respected him, always tried to learn little things here and there, what I can.

I'm really excited to take it to the next level, really draw from that experience. He will be a great addition to have on the stand for me.

Q. Jimmy, Ed had kind of mentioned getting up to speed. What are you going to have to do to help Ed get back up to the speed, especially on ovals?

JIMMY VASSER: I don't expect any real delay. Watching Ed while we were around a bit in '17, then competing against him the following two years, just being a driver and knowing he hasn't been out of the car not that long for a young man like that. I fully expect him to jump in and find his pace pretty much immediately. There's no concerns on my end it's going to take him any time to get back up to speed.

As far as the ovals go, we're going to have a doubleheader at Texas. Some of these tracks, Indianapolis, we're going to be there for so long. Looking at St. Louis. It's really not an oval-centric series like it used to be.

I don't have any concerns either on the ovals or the road, street circuits, there's not going to be any more learning curves.

@29:11

Q. Ed, you're coming into a whole new series, new ownership, new ownership of the IMS track, new car. You've been through an interesting road. What do you think you've learned over the past couple years at INDYCAR, the types of people that you've met, that you can bring forward to 2021?

ED JONES: Yeah, as you said, it's been an interesting ride so far. Probably not the most ideal. Because of that I've learned a huge amount. I've had some great experiences with teams and some not-so-great.

What I learned the most is it's all about who you have around you in the team. That is the most critical part. The most important part I've learned so far is having people around you which you can really trust, people that are there trying to back you. If you don't have that in a team, it's going to be really hard for you to succeed.

Yeah, I feel really comfortable with the guys that we have on the 18 car, which gives you confidence. The experience I learned. Also it's key to find the right people. The engineers we have, Ross, a great addition to the team, somebody I'm really confident in. All those people around you, it's going to make this work. That's probably the biggest thing I've taken from the few years I've had.

Again, you learn so many things in the racing. Everyone keeps on bringing up the oval aspect, getting up to speed. For me, it's not about that this year. I'm not here to try and take time to get up to speed, I've not come back for that reason, or have any excuse like that. I want to be there and be straight on it from the get-go and back like I've never left. That's really important for me. That's my target. I'm looking forward to getting after it.

Q. Jimmy Vasser, he's good at ovals, so on. Is there anything specific you see in Ed that you can bring forward talking to him from the box?

JIMMY VASSER: We're going to find out, right? As I mentioned earlier, Ed has shown consistency. He's a finisher. That's the most important thing. From there, hopefully working with Ross and Michael Cox as a junior engineer that was on the team last year, who is a very bright kid, with Isaac Townsend being promoted in the team up to crew chief working real close with Todd, we got to put together a nice, tight little group, keep it in the box, give Ed a good car that he has shown what he can do good.

He's a pretty methodical driver. If we can be there and then put ourselves in a position to take opportunities, try to make the right calls strategically, then I think we can, like Ed said, just find ourself in the top 10, then let's kind of put ourselves to get in a position to get on the podium, then who knows. From there, things can happen and you can win a race.

So I hate to be cliché about it, but you got to take it one race at a time, one session at a time, really just hone in on keeping it as simple as you can really, not make mistakes.

I'm going to say it again, Ed said it, I don't anticipate any getting used to the new car, the Aeroscreen. We've seen with the other drivers just jumping in. Ed is going to be right on the pace, at least match the pace of the car, what it's capable of, in my mind the first days.

Q. Dale Coyne, it seems like you almost have a potential tiger by the tail with Jones and Vasser together. How do you see it? Where do you involve yourself?

DALE COYNE: Jimmy and Sulli, Sulli is in the air right now or he'd been on here, he's flying from Texas to Daytona. We talked about drivers. Santino has gone off in the NASCAR or Xfinity. Ed was a natural choice for both of us. We looked at who was out there, who was available. My relationship with Ed, we knew his background, what he could do.

I think Ed is going to have a really nice environment there, with the people around him, chief mechanic, Jimmy in his ear. I think it's all going to gel very nicely.

This is all about making that team work. It's not just the driver. The driver is the most important cog for sure. But giving him a good car, having a good team around him, trying to get podiums. Wins are hard to get, but we can get them. That's the goal.

Q. Jimmy, the Rolex is this weekend. How do you feel going into the Rolex? You and Sulli have sort of branched out, doing your own thing this year. What are Lexus' expectations for you? If you can talk about Zach Veach, the enjoyment he's had so far.

JIMMY VASSER: Expectations are we're here to win the 24. Sorry to say, that, Ed. We're competing against Ed in the GTD class. We're going to kick your butt, Ed.

We have branched out, but the team very much looks and feels the same as it had last year with our past partners. But we've stepped it up in our minds with some personnel, engineering, and the driver lineup.

Having said that, it leads me to Zach Veach. He's done three test days in the car. He's really embraced working on the simulator and kind of trying to adapt to the ABS system in the car. I haven't driven it, but it seems to be something that is tough to get used to for drivers.

On the radio, on the in-lap from the qualifier race, he came on the radio and said that was the most fun he's ever had. He's really looking forward to the series. He seems really enlightened and extremely happy. That kind of energy, you know, it trickles down through the whole team. It's infectious. Hopefully that will help keep things light around here and we can deliver not only for the team but Lexus and all the stakeholders in the team.

Q. Jimmy, do you think both your entries are championship contenders?

JIMMY VASSER: Yeah, I do. I do. Although the 14 is very, very strong. We're going to see how Zach, leading the full season as the professional in the 12 car. With Frankie I think he's shown that he's able to win races and get podiums.

We expect between the two cars they should vie for the championship and more importantly we're well positioned with the two cars to get the manufacturers championship for Lexus.

Q. Just wanted to ask about SealMaster. Everyone who watches the races on TV appreciate having such an eye-catching design amongst all the red, whites and blues out there. How do you feel they have kept faith in terms of what they get out of it? You started a relationship with a huge bang with the win at St. Pete. What have they seen has been the value for INDYCAR racing over subsequent seasons?

JIMMY VASSER: First of all, they're a great partner, a very successful program for them. It's based around the franchisees. They get a tremendous amount of value from our media partners in Spectrum. They also activate, although they couldn't, they a few of the franchisees were able to come at Road America.

They understood while last year was the pandemic and they weren't able to do as much, but they're looking forward to things lightening up a bit this year and resuming what they did in prior years.

I think Dale will remember and a lot of people would, there were 110 franchisees that came to St. Pete when we won that first race. When you can give that kind of an experience for them, it's in their blood, you could probably ask anyone, when you bring somebody to an INDYCAR race, you can smell it and feel it and hear it, you get hooked.

They are a great partner, but they're very, very happy with how things are going. Their leadership ironically, too, a bit of an Ed Jones fan. We were really happy about that. Double thumbs up when we let them know who our new driver was going to be. We're really, really looking forward to getting this thing rolling and getting back to business, as usual.

DALE COYNE: There's a lot of nice parking lots and Sonny's Barbecue in Florida (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Our buddy Asher has chimed in. He has one question for Ed. Go ahead, Asher.

Q. Ed, you were champion in the SealMaster car after some great drivers including Sebastien Bourdais and Santino Ferrucci. How excited are you to be driving that car after all those good drivers?

ED JONES: Yeah, well. First of all, thanks for the question.

It's fantastic to be driving that car. As I said, the first time I saw it was the year after I left Dale the first time. Sebastien had won that race at St. Petersburg. The car looked awesome then. It's looked amazing ever since.

It's always one of the cars when you're on track, you see it. You're like, That looks good. I'm really excited to be there. They've had some great success over four years. Really hoping I can add to that.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everyone. Good to see good people return to the NTT INDYCAR Series. Dale, Jimmy, Ed. Our congratulations to Sulli, as well. Looking forward to seeing the No. 18 team's SealMaster Honda at the opener April 18th, Barber Motorsports Park.

Thanks to everyone. Have a great day.

[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: SealMaster, No.18 SealMaster Honda, Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing, Vasser Sullivan Racing, 2021, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Dale Coyne, Jimmy Vasser, Ed Jones, The EDJE

Mayor Of Hinchtown Brings Andretti Autosport & Genesys Back To The City Council

Mayor Of Hinchtown, James Hinchcliffe presses the accelerator pedal to the floor of his then No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Petersen Honda out of the Turn 11 Hairpin on to Shoreline Drive straightaway. James Hinchcliffe leads Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti early in the 2017 Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach race before all Andretti Autosport cars retire with problems by the race's end. The Mayor went on to win the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach . Image Credit: Myles Regan (2017)

Mayor Of Hinchtown Brings Andretti Autosport & Genesys Back To The City Council

For 2021, James Hinchcliffe, the Mayor of Hinchtown, has agreed to have Andretti Autosport and Genesys support his quest of another NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship season ... he has decided to place them on the city council for 2021.

Genesys will be the primary sponsor for 10 of the 17 races of the 2021 season that begins April 18th at the road course of Barber Motorsports Park and ends, unusually, at Long Beach, California for the Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach, September 26th, 2021.

Welcome to the world of Hinchtown. 

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Michael Andretti - Andretti Autosport

James Hinchcliffe - Driver, No. 29 Genesys Honda

Joyce Kim - Genesys

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Great to see everyone here this afternoon. A very special announcement for Andretti Autosport.

Let's start with some introductions, shall we? Joining us today is Michael Andretti, CEO and chairman of Andretti Autosport. Joyce Kim is here, as well, the chief marketing officer of Genesys. Set to begin his 11th season in the NTT INDYCAR Series, great to see James Hinchcliffe here today as well.

In case you missed it, announced just moments ago, James will be back with Andretti Autosport driving the No. 29 Honda with Genesys orange on the car for 10 races throughout the upcoming 2021 season, including the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. You may remember Hinch and Genesys were on one of four Andretti Autosport entries to get into the Firestone Fast Nine during qualifying for the Indy 500 last year. They are back in a big, big way in 2021.

We'll start with Michael. Congratulations. How satisfying is it to get Hinch locked up for the upcoming season?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, we're really excited. Having Hinch back in the family has been great. He did a few races for us last year. It was like having him come back home. Just gets along with everybody performs really well. We're excited to get to be able to announce this deal.

We're happy to have Genesys back with us as well. They've been great to work with. It's so fun to work with a company that is so excited about the sport and is getting behind it. We thank them.

It's really a great announcement today. We're really happy.

THE MODERATOR: We welcome in Joyce Kim, chief marketing officer for Genesys. Anyone that was in Indy last August saw the commitment that was made for James in the 500, signage at every turn, all sorts of activation. Genesys is a global leader in cloud customer experience and contact solutions.

Joyce, how did your experience last summer lead to this?

JOYCE KIM: Yeah, thank you. We're so excited to continue our partnership with James and Andretti Autosport. I mean, as you guys know, last year, sort of our first time into the racing arena, and I think the only thing that would have made it better than it was if we could be there in person instead of virtually cheering the team on.

We're really proud to continue this and deepen our roots in the Indy community, which for those who don't know is the largest footprint of our employee base around the world. Given Indianapolis and racing are sort of synonymous, we're really happy to continue this partnership again.

I think a lot of people have asked me why are you guys doing Indy 500. It sort of ties back to our business. We are in awe of sort of the amount of data and real-time things that are required, the split-second decisions that the drivers and the pit crews and everyone has to make. I kind of liken it to what we do for our customers at Genesys with customer experience, the data, the artificial intelligence, predictive capabilities.

It's all about the team, empowering with technology and data. We're really just honored to be a part of this. I can't wait to watch James and Andretti Autosport flying around the track in our Genesys orange No. 29 Honda. Hopefully this year we'll be able to be in person.

Thank you again. We're really glad to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Joyce, you mentioned it, deep ties to Indianapolis. This is a global brand, though. You threw it all into one pot that makes this partnership all the more stronger really. Very high level for your company.

JOYCE KIM: Absolutely. Like we said, I think Indianapolis continues to grow for us. It's not only our employees, but a lot of our customer base is there, as well. We're all in sort of continuing to activate and so forth.

We'll see sort of how we do it this year, given where the pandemic and so forth is. But, yeah, it's a very strong partnership. We couldn't be happier.

THE MODERATOR: James, full-time program with a team that you're certainly very familiar with, a sponsor you've become familiar with over the last year. How special is this day for you?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I mean, it's a dream come true in so many ways. It's a culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people certainly. I love telling the story, we talked a lot about this last year when we did our three-race deal. It was two months from an Instagram message to signing a deal with Genesys. For a company to move that quickly in this kind of program was unbelievable. They took it a step further by sponsoring the race in Texas. You talked about all the activation on the 500. Now to jump up with a 10-race deal, it's incredible.

It just shows the commitment they're willing to give, the faith they have in us and this program. We're so proud to be partnered with them.

To be back full-time, as Michael said earlier, it's kind of like a homecoming. This team has been like family to me since I joined the first time back in 2012. We always said we'd get the band back together.

We did like a little reunion tour last year, but now we're fully back together. For me with Genesys onboard, being with Andretti Autosport, it's just incredible.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take some questions.

Q. James, your expectations coming in. Obviously last year was a little bit of a weird year for you in terms of stepping back from full-time competition, refocusing, different kind of goals than what you would have had if you had a full-time schedule. What are you aiming for this year? If we transform to the end of the year, what would you be happy with? Race wins, podiums, fighting for the championship?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, certainly it's a little bit different than 2020. At the same time all the races in 2020, you go in with the same mindset. You trying to win, you're trying to go there and help the team be better throughout the weekend, then in the race itself, trying to take that victory.

That mindset continues whether you're doing three races, 13 race, 17 race, whatever it is. You have to go in there every weekend and do what you can to, like I said, help the team Friday through Saturday, then on Sunday do the best job you can.

For us, I think if you look back at the way Andretti Autosport improved over the 2020 season, it's no secret that it was a little bit of a struggle the first part of the year, but the last half of that season the team really came on strong and the cars were really competitive. I think that gave us a lot of positive momentum going into the off-season.

There's nothing stopping us from saying we should be running up front right from the drop of the green flag at Barber. Podium, race wins, I'd love to see all the cars up there running with a shot at the championship with three or four rounds to go.

Q. Michael, can you talk about the kind of lineup for this season, how you've come to that lineup. You go into this thinking you're going in with a bit more focus in those four cars to fight at the front, kind of a refocusing of the organization maybe.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, a little bit. Obviously having four instead of five can make it a little bit easier in terms of focus, for sure. Yeah, we're real happy with the way things have gone. We're real happy with our driver lineup. I think we have four great full-timers that are going to help each other to hopefully have four of them fighting at the end of the year for the championship. That's our goal. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm real happy with the way it all came together. Can't wait to get to the first race and see how we go.

Q. James, I have to imagine how tough it was to be in the car for six races last year but have to be on the sidelines for those other eight. What stands out to you? What do you remember most of those eight races where you were not in the car?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: It's funny. Every time something like that happens, I think in an athlete's career you can take it one of two ways. You can look at the negative, we're not doing this, I couldn't do this, not that, or you try to focus on the positives that come out of it.

I learned a lot in those eight races. It's been a while since I sort of got to see a race unfold from the pit lane or broadcast booth. You see a whole lot more of a race from up there than you do from inside the cockpit. You only see one show when you're driving.

I still was able to connect with the team obviously throughout the season, having those couple races, staying in touch with how they were working, kind of sort of build up a little bit towards what we were hoping was going to be a full-time ride this year. Obviously that all came together.

I definitely had a different program in 2020 than I was hoping for, but really enjoyed my time working with NBC and all the talent there. Everybody was phenomenal to work with.

I definitely did learn some things that I think we can apply for next year and definitely helped me continue my growth pattern with the team and just being able to hit the ground running in the first race.

Q. Michael, I remember both you and James said back in February that you both had goals of this turning into a full-time program in 2021. It seems like it might have at least taken a little while to announce. Was there ever any doubt, sponsorship side or otherwise, that this would eventually come together over the last 10 months or so?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: We felt very confident. I think we felt Genesys was very excited about it. We started talking about extending their program. Then obviously we had to talk to some others to try to be able to fill in the rest of the way, which we're just about there. Hopefully we'll have something to announce there soon.

Yeah, but we always felt confident that we were going to be able to get it together. I got to say it's always nice when you fulfill a goal, and we reached it. So now we're on to the next goal, which is win the championship.

Q. With Hinch having not taken part in the Sebring test, how much is it transferrable from what was learned there over to Hinch's driving style? Question for Michael, but Hinch's view on it as well.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I mean, I think when you're testing, you're testing basic stuff. It's not just stuff based on the driver's style, it's more like things we're testing overall for the team. I believe that we did learn quite a few things during the test.

I think the things that we did learn, not just from Marco and James' car, but also the other drivers, it should definitely translate into a better car for James, as well.

Q. James, how do you feel your driving style meshes with your teammates'?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Honestly, quite well. I think for me, there were definitely some differences coming into the Andretti camp, sort of the general philosophy with the car and certain elements. Those first few races, especially on the road courses, took a little bit of time to get used to a certain element.

But I think we got there. Certainly by St. Pete you saw all those cars were quick, we were right up there with them in the Fast Six. That was for me a big indicator that Colton, Alex, Ryan, myself, we can all run pretty similar cars. I think that's really going to be a huge strength of ours over this season.

Q. Michael and James, the way you guys have been together in the past, now you're back together, you almost kind of seem to wonder sometimes what would have happened if you stuck together the first time.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, unfortunately things didn't work out. We had to go our separate ways there for a little bit. Yeah, it would have been fun to keep James within the team.

It is what it is. We're just happy to be back together. Hopefully we still have some more, bunch of more wins together.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, I mean, to steal a line from Ross: We were on a break. But we're back together now, and that's what matters. I still think there's a lot of opportunity. As Michael said, I still certainly feel like I got a lot of racing left in me. This is a team that can get it done with championships and with wins and 500s. We just want to see that orange 29 Genesys car covered in milk in May, hopefully covered in confetti at the end of the season.

Q. Michael, as a businessman, after what we've all been through in 2020, the uncertainty of 2021, how surprised are you to see the driver car lineup and the sponsorship interest as high as it is?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I think that says something about the momentum of the series itself. I think it's quite good. But you start to imagine, what if the stupid COVID wasn't there, where would we be?

I think it's at least a positive. We didn't go backwards, we're still going forwards, even though we had this hiccup with COVID. It makes me even more bullish about the future of INDYCAR.

Q. Hinch, given that you only had a partial program last season, is there anything you can take from last year going into this season? If so, what is it in terms of your technical feedback and stuff?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, for sure. I mean, any time you're in the race car with the team, there's items that you can learn from, certainly take into the following year. There's no major changes to the cars. Every lap I turned in 2020 is going to be valuable, just going to add to the database of knowledge for 2021.

I'll be working with a different engineering staff now that we're a full-time program. It's people I had the chance to work alongside, some people I've worked with in the past on the car.

Yeah, I think a lot of the experience from last year is going to translate well. I don't think we should start behind the eight ball really compared to anybody. I think we should be right there.

Q. Michael, how beneficial is it to you to have James back on the team given his experience with you guys?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: It's great having James back. Again, he's very quick. He's really a big help in developing a car. Also he fits in very well with all the other teammates, which is an important element when you have a team the size of ours. We have to make sure that personalities all work together. James fits in like a glove, perfect, with everybody. So, yeah, it's really great to have him back.

Q. James, I wanted to get your feeling on what it was like at the end of 2020 not knowing whether or not you'd be racing in 2021. Now that you've got your answer, is there a sense of relief at all?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I think, sure. I mean, obviously, yeah. Once the pieces all came together, there was a sense of relief. We had some challenges over the off-season certainly, partners move around that we thought were going to be there but weren't.

I was so focused in my whole team, Don, everybody over there, worked so hard on cultivating the relationship with Genesys. They were just so awesome to work with. We're so happy that they're in for 10 races. That was really the backbone of this program.

I was very confident that no matter what happened, we were going to fight, we were going to scrap our way, do whatever we had to do. We had obviously a ton of support from everybody at Andretti and what they brought to the table.

I was confident all along. Even though we hit some roadblocks along the way, I knew that's what we wanted to do, I knew that's what the team wanted, it's what Genesys wanted. We were just going to keep fighting till we made it happen.

Yeah, a little bit of relief certainly. But I wasn't too worried about the uncertainty at the end of '20.

Q. You were saying this is kind of like getting the band back together. Some of your most successful seasons were with Andretti. Can you speak to why that is.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: The culture in the team is just phenomenal. It's something that I just really took to when I first started driving there in 2012. That starts at the top with Michael. He's built an incredible organization. The record speaks for itself.

Just the atmosphere in the shop, the way we go racing, it just suits me I think as a person. I've had the opportunity to work with some incredible teammates there. I certainly think the bigger team, having four cars, these limited race weekends, and they're getting smaller, thanks, COVID, another thing that's made for us, less track time on race weekends. That program really does help.

I love working with other drivers, trying to make the whole team better. The atmosphere there really promotes that. I just put it down to team culture. I'm excited just to get back to work full-time with them.

Q. Michael, what has been your biggest challenge during this global pandemic? Is it working with sponsors or something else?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think there's a little bit of everything. But I think obviously it's about trying to keep our partners happy because unfortunately because of COVID we weren't able to be able to deliver all the deliverables for them. We were lucky enough to have great partners that worked with us. We were able to get through it.

It was a challenge for us like it is for everybody I think out there in their own way. But we got through it. I think we actually got through it, coming through it, we're going to be a better team for it. I think we learned a lot of other little things that just make it stronger, bring us more together as a team.

Yeah, it was tough. I'm sure every single one of us have some sort of story like that.

Q. Michael, just wondering with Marco scaling back his INDYCAR racing this year, tell me what your initial reaction was when you discussed that, what that's going to entail. What happens to the 98 car after Indianapolis with your team?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, it was an interesting time there when we were discussing where we were at, what we should do. Marco, we actually threw a scenario out that it may come down to only doing Indy only, a few other races. I think when we put that out to him, he started thinking about, You know what, this time in my career, where I am, maybe it's time for me to try some other things as well, just focus mainly on Indy because that's the big one he still wants to win. He knows deep down inside that he can still win it.

I was completely behind him on his decision. I respected it. That's not to say he's not going to be back full-time again in INDYCAR in the future. But I think right now, for what he needed for his head and everything, I think in the end it was a smart decision on his part, mature decision. We'll see what happens.

I totally respected his decision and was behind him.

Q. The one word that I haven't heard mentioned yet today is 'fans'. That pandemic really screwed things up in 2020. What was your reaction to seeing an empty Indianapolis Motor Speedway on race day, and what is it going to be like just to have fans back?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, I mean, I think it was the strangest year ever in every way. I think the strangest part of the year was obviously seeing the start of the Indy 500 with nobody in the stands. It felt naked. It felt like it wasn't right, you know?

I just hope there's no way that will ever happen again, for sure. I'm excited about getting back there and having those 300 some thousand fans right down there on the track when you're getting ready for the start of the race. There's nothing like it. In the end, it's the fans that give it that electricity. You feel it inside when you're down there on the grid right before the start.

That was something that was duly missed last year. Hopefully that was just a one-off thing and it will never happen again. Looking forward to, again, like I say, getting back there. I'm happy we were at least able to finish the year with fans in the stands at St. Petersburg. I think that sort of was a nice way to finish the year, at least we had some of that feeling back again.

@26:57

Q. James, you haven't had the amount of laps in the new Aeroscreen car as the other drivers have. What are the things you can learn from with the experience the team has going forward, competing a whole season in an Aeroscreen car? What do you think you need to pick up?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: To learn how to stay a bit cooler is the number one thing. That's the biggest challenge we've had with the Aeroscreen (laughter).

Again, it speaks to the strength of having a four-car team. You have so much experience now (indiscernible) equipment on the car, I guess we could say. Sure, I may have a few fewer laps, but the data has prepared me. I can take all the lessons they've learned. We've developed the setups as we've had to at each track. Luckily it was less of an impact on the setups than we thought it would be. That helped a bit. Pretty much could run the same car you ran last year with only a few minor adjustments.

I have to kind of lean on my teammates and on my team a little bit. I'm with the best team to do it.

Q. You mentioned a different mix to the team going forward into this season. You have experience with most of the people in the team. Who do you think will be your greatest ally with the team?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: In terms of my teammates?

Q. Yes. There will be some more supportive than others always.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: You know what, I think again that's what's so great with the culture there, is everybody is pretty supportive. We have an engineering trailer that everybody sits in, everybody can hear all the conversations. It's a very open book. Sometimes there's debates and healthy arguing and debating going on about maybe what to do or what the right move is. It's all very open, all very healthy in that sense.

I've had the most experience working with Ryan certainly. But I know Alex personally very well. Colton is probably the one I spend the least time around. Even of the races we did, he's a great help. He's quiet, to the point, kind of gets in and gets the job done. He knows a lot about racecars and how to make them go fast.

I think on any given weekend that could shift who your best ally is, whoever is hitting it the best on that weekend.

Q. Michael, this is pretty interesting going forward without Marco as a full-time driver. You've built a tremendous organization. Some might say as good of a driver as you were, as a team owner you're equal to anybody in the paddock. Do you see Marco coming forward and being integrated more this season into dealing with the issues of owning a team and event organizations?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Good question. I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure. I haven't really talked to Marco. I'm not sure he'll be going to the races he's not driving at. In fact, I know he's looking to do other series, other types of driving.

There probably won't be a lot of that. I don't think we'll see him a lot at the INDYCAR races. He's going to be doing a lot of other stuff, which is part of the reason why he took this decision. He thinks it's a great opportunity to see what it's like to drive different types of racecars and things like that.

Probably to answer your question, probably not much of that from Marco this year.

Q. There was an announcement last week with Simona De Silvestro. In a kind of way you have a ghost driver on the track because of the relationships in the past. What is your reaction to their chances going forward?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I'm real happy for Beth. I know she's worked hard to get there. We talked to her in the past, were close to doing some things together. Obviously with Simona who has driven for us in INDYCARS as well as Formula E, we have a great relationship with her. I have a ton of respect for her.

I think it's awesome for the sport to have them come in as a team. They should do well. They have the support of the Penske organization, which obviously helps them on their learning curve. I'm real happy for them. I hope they have a successful program.

Q. Michael, you lost your uncle, your cousin, your mother. How has that been for your family? Have you been able to recover well or is it still there making you sad?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: It's hasn't been great, I can tell you that. It's been a tough couple years, especially for my father. He lost his sister, as well. Yeah, it's been a tough time.

Unfortunately, it's part of life. We're all going to go through it. It's been tough to go through as much as we have in a short period of time. But it is the way it is. Life goes on. We have to march forward and be happy with the memories that we have of all the loved ones that we've lost.

Q. How is your dad doing? Is he taking it hard?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He's hanging in there. He's taking it hard. It's been really difficult on him, for sure. This COVID thing hasn't helped any. Being at home by yourself, not being out on the road. If you know my dad, he lives on the road. Not being able to travel I think has made things a little worse for him, for sure.

Q. Hopefully getting him back at the track will make him feel better.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I hope so. Hopefully getting him back in the two-seater, as well, because that's helped keep him young, as well.

Q. What has been the focus in the off-season for development of the team? Your cars were fast, but in traffic have seemed to struggle. Has that been one of your focuses for the off-season?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I don't think I'd agree with that. I think we had strong cars all the way through the field. If you watched James, the way we came up through the field after the mistake in the pit stop. We had four cars capable of winning the race and we shot ourselves in the race in the pits. Every single car that we had had a problem in the pits. That was the difference. Had that not happened, I think we would have won with one of them. James was one of them as well.

From that standpoint, I don't agree with that. Hopefully we are still going to have strong cars again next year. We've been focusing more on the tracks where we've been weak. There's tracks like St. Louis that I think we can do a better job at, a few others. Those are the ones we're really focusing on. Hopefully our guys have come up with the answer to be more competitive at the places we were weak.

Q. Genesys, is it a sponsorship deal only or is there any kind of technology exchange? Is Genesys with their technology helping the team at all?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: At the moment it's just sponsorship. But we're always looking to see if there's ways that we can use our partners to make this a better team. Our guys are always thinking about that.

We still haven't figured out a way yet to do it with Genesys, but...

THE MODERATOR: We'll segue back to Joyce Kim. Outside of maybe the Indy 500, is there another track you're looking forward to seeing the 29?

JOYCE KIM: Well, I mean, certainly we'll work on the activation of the brand again this year. Again, we're all sort of waiting to see what happens with the COVID, how that all turns out.

Yeah, I mean, we may not do airports again, but you'll see us all over Indy, no question.

THE MODERATOR: I heard you say you have twin boys that were excited about this opportunity to get involved in racing in a family kind of way.

JOYCE KIM: Yeah, I have nine-year-old twin boys ha were introduced to Indy racing last year. They hear the name Andretti, they hear Hinch, it's pandemonium at my house, so (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Hinch, you have a few more autographs to sign.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: That's fine. I think I have a go-kart race I have to set up (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Done.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Absolutely. Any time.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everybody. What a huge opportunity it is for Genesys, James Hinchcliffe back for a full-time ride, 10 races with Genesys in 2021. Michael, congratulations to you as well. Season opening April 18th at beautiful Barber Motorsports Park. Thank you for being with us today.

[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE

UPDATE:

Hinchcliffe to run Capstone sponsorship in six races

By: David Malsher-Lopez - Feb 18, 2021, 11:01 AM

Capstone Turbine Corporation will return to Andretti Autosport-Honda in 2021 as primary sponsor for James Hinchcliffe at six of the seven races in which he isn’t sponsored by Genesys 

[one more opening for the 2021 season]

TAGS: James Hinchcliffe, Mayor Of Hinchtown, Andretti Autosport, Michael Andretti, Genesys, 2021, The EDJE