What a great day for the speedway, and a great day to celebrate Roger
Penske’s 85th birthday! "So I went back to the speedway this morning to
get my painting that I did in the suites overlooking Ruoff Victory Lane,"
said events artist Bill Patterson. "I just happened to find myself
with my painting in victory Lane and my timing was perfect!" Pictured from
Left to Right - Event Artist Bill Patterson, Event Painting of Daytona 500
finish with the Penske Racing's Discount Tire sponsored No, 2 Ford Mustang
of Austin Cindric at P1 and the 23XI Racing's McDonald's sponsored No. 23
Toyota Camary of Bubba Wallace in P2, Daytona 500 Winner Austin Cindric.
Image Credit: Bill Patterson via META/FB (2022)
The "House Of Penske" Influence Owns Winning To Open 2022 Racing
Season
Looking back from the holding of the NASCAR Daytona 500, there have been
three races to open the professional 2022 automobile racing season here in
North America - IMSA's Rolex 24 Hours Of Daytona followed by the NASCAR
non-points paying, attention-getting promotional short-track race one-week
before the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the BUSCH Light
Clash At The Coliseum (the original home of the RAMS when they came to Los
Angeles), and last weekend's NASCAR Daytona 500.
Team Penske driver Joey Logano, who started 4th, celebrates,
with many donuts at the Start/Finish Line, his hold off win
against race start leader Kyle Busch in the 150 lap heat race
performed on the "one-of" 1/4 mile temporary track built on the
floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This venue was
normally the collage football house of USC, but no matter how
NASCAR tried to make this weekend NASCAR's house, the title
sponsor had kept the USC front and center - BUSCH Light
Clash At The Coliseum. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks
(2022)
All three of these races were won by a Team Penske operation or through
efforts started by Team Penske and carried on through the legacy efforts
of drivers and engineers familiar with the motor culture path cut by Roger
Penske.
What began this above focus was the occasion of a ZOOM Call - to kick off
the first race of the 2022 season at Saint Petersburg, Florida - sponsored
by INDYCAR that featured two drivers, one who will race for Team Penske,
and the other who performs double-duty this season between IMSA DPi Class
sports car racing and INDYCAR for Meyer Shank Racing - Will Power
and Helio Castroneves respectively.
Q. I find it interesting with all the activity in auto racing that we've
had in 2022, we have seen a lot of influence from the "House Of Penske"
... after all, you have Acura DPi, you and Simon winning the Rolex 24
Hours of Daytona. We have the NASCAR Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum won
by Joey Logano, Team Penske. And then, of course, the Daytona 500 with
Austin Cindric … also Team Penske.
What do you think it is with the Penske culture that delivers this kind of
success?
Rolex 24 At Daytona Victory Lane from above - #60: Meyer Shank
Racing W/Curb-Agajanian, Acura DPi, DPi Drivers:Simon Pagenaud, Oliver Jarvis, Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves. This car was
originally introduced to IMSA prototype racing through an
agreement reached by Team Penske with Acura Motorsports on July
11, 2017 and ended its campaign at the end of 2020. Two DPi cars
were fielded and then transferred to Wayne Taylor Racing and
Meyer Shank Racing. It was the second overall victory for
Michael Shank’s MSR team, which also won the 50th Rolex 24 at
Daytona. “I just make it happen,” said Castroneves, who was
teamed with Simon Pagenaud (his teammate with Team Penske in
IndyCar, and a first-time Rolex 24 winner), Oliver Jarvis and
Blomqvist. “I had amazing teammates. What a great, incredible
race.” Image Credit: Michael L. Levitt - LAT Images via IMSA
(2022)
First, Helio.
HELIO CASTRONEVES:
Well, I worked with the organization for over 20 years, and no question
they're looking for every small detail and continue to develop in
off-season and during the season. It's a great organization and they
don't see any limits. They actually -- the same way -- and I believe the
INDYCAR started that with kind of like the work attitude translates to
the NASCAR world, and probably that's why one of the successes that
happened is having that mentality from INDYCAR to the NASCAR world.
Now it's not only that but INDYCAR and NASCAR, IMSA, they all have that
kind of mentality, which helps. It helps everyone to stay in the
program, understanding what they need to do. It gives you the tools that
you need to go there and execute. The results obviously come out later,
and it's no question the team that has the most record in a lot of the
series, and they'll always be a contender.
Team Penske's Will Power rounds Turn 6 at the 2021 late
September season finale at the ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach.
Power (2021 P9) will be on a three driver team with Josef
Newgarden (2021 P2) and fellow Southern hemispherical colonies
born, New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (2021 P14). Image
Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
Q. Will, your reflection on Penske culture?
WILL POWER:
Yeah, it starts from the top down. You see the way Roger runs his
corporation, the business, any business that he's in, and like he always
says, it's human capital. It's the people that you invest in. He always
has a very good team at the top, and that filters all the way down
through the whole organization to really anyone doing anything within
the shop.
Great people preparing the cars. You've got great people doing
development behind the scenes, and you're expected to win. Roger expects
the team to win. That's why last year was so disappointing on the
INDYCAR side, because we did win but we didn't win enough, and we
weren't competitive enough at Indianapolis.
Certainly went into this last off-season really, really digging deep,
and the whole team looked at everything and has done some great
development.
Hopefully that translates on to the track. It's a super competitive
series and environment right now, so you can never know. But Roger
expects all of us on the INDYCAR side to be contending for a
championship.
ENDS
The culture that Roger Penske instills has expectations for high standards
followed by finding the right people to deliver the deepest understanding
of every small detail, from equipment, personnel, and processes that yield
planned winning results.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is back and bigger than ever
as the NTT IndyCar Series opener.
A field of 26 cars — tying a St. Pete GP record set in 2008 and 2012 —
will take the green flag Sunday as the race opens the season for the
first time.
TV: Noon ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and
NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell
and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are the
pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar
in 2022.
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:23 p.m. ET
GREEN FLAG: 12:30 p.m. ET
DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (180 miles) on a 14-turn, 1.8-mile street
course through downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, including a runway of
Albert Whitted Airport
PRACTICE: Friday, 3:40 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9 a.m. ET
(Peacock Premium), Sunday warmup, 8:45 a.m. ET (Peacock Premium)
QUALIFYING: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium)
TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate. One additional
set is available to rookie drivers for use in the Friday afternoon
practice session. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new
(sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum single duration
of 15 seconds. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or
any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a
timed race The feature increases the power of the engine by
approximately 60 horsepower.
FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 73 degrees
with a 3% chance of rain at the green flag.
We will have to wait and see if this "House Of Penske" string of wins can
extend itself to the 2022 season opener on the streets and around the salt
waters of Saint Petersburg.
After all that was said and done given the events held by NASCAR in the
Wise Power 400 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California and the
season opening of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at St. Petersburg, Florida in
the Firestone Grand Prix at St, Petersburg, the "House Of Penske" added
to their impressive opening to the 2022 professional racing series
seasons. After NASCAR's Austin Cindric captured the pole in Fontana and
INDYCAR's Scott McLaughlin captured the pole in St. Petersburg, another
promising outcome awaited for a total of 5 wins in 3 racing series with
no other racing organization other than Team Penske winning a race in
these - IMSA DPi/NASCAR/INDYCAR - racing series in all of 2022.
Firestone Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg Podium celebration - P2 Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Palou, P1 race winner Team Penske, Scott McLaughlin and P3 Team Penske, Will Power - Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski (2022)
By days end on Sunday, February 27, 2022, a 100% sweep was not in the
cards, but all was not lost. While no Team Penske driver was able to
score a win in the race held by NASCAR at Auto Club Speedway, Team
Penske did go on to win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES opener in St. Petersburg
with New Zealander Scott McLaughlin registering his first win in the
racing series to begin his second year driving the Chevrolet
Dallara.
In the end, the "House Of Penske" won all of the season opening races in
the three professional motorsports racing series at the highest levels
in North America - IMSA DPi through the legacy of Acura fielded by Meyer
Shank Racing driven by Penske legacy drivers Helio Castroneves and Simon
Pagenaud | NASCAR in two races where one was a non-points paying race
known as the BUSCH Light Clash at the Coliseum won by Team Penske driver
Joey Logano followed by a win in the first season points paying race at
the Daytona 500 won by Team Penske driver Austin Cindric | NTT INDYCAR
in the season opener won by Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin - that's
4 wins in 5 races in all of the top professional racing series (3) here
in North America!
That's what OWNS WINNING looks like.
Viva and congratulations to all in the pursuits of excellence at the
"House Of Penske" !
ENDS
TAGS:Team Penske Roger Penske, Happy Birthday, ACURA DPi. NASCAR, IMSA,
INDYCAR, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Penske Hall Of Fame, Joey
Logano, Austin Cindric, Simon Pagenaud, MSR Racing, House Of Penske,
The EDJE
Helio Castroneves accepts medallion honor laid into the Long Beach
Motorsports Walk Of Fame at the 44th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long
Beach. Acura, the make of the sportscar Helio currently drives
and has won championship IMSA sanctioned races in, took over title
sponsorship in 2019. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2018)
Meyer Shank Racing Taps Helio Castroneves For Partial 2021 NTT INDYCAR
SERIES Season
What a grand silly season agreement for all who do not believe that former
Penske Racing standout driver and 3-Time INDY 500 winner Brazilian Helio
Castroneves' INDYCAR career is over.
Welcome the era of six races with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) next season. He will be fielding a second car along side of British teammate Jack Harvey in a six-race commitment season that will begin with the Honda Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park on April 11, Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18 before heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the “500” on May 30 and the road race at IMS on Aug. 14. His final two races will include the West Coast Swing ... the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway on Sept. 12 and the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 19.
NTT IndyCar Series News Conference
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Meyer Shank Racing ZOOM Call Press Conference - Michael Shank, Jim Meyer, Helio
Castroneves
THE MODERATOR: Good morning to everyone here. My name is Dave Furst from
INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR Series. Great to see everyone here this morning. A
reminder, through the beauty of Zoom, you'll be able to ask questions this
morning and to do so please click the raise hand button in the chat and we'll
get to your questions here in just a bit.
Special announcement to begin today and three gentlemen who have come together
for a very special partnership. Helio Castroneves is a three-time winner of
the Indianapolis 500, a total of 30 wins in the NTT INDYCAR Series and 50
poles, which puts him fourth on the all-time list. Jim Meyer is the CEO of
Sirius XM and partner of Meyer Shank Racing, back in April of 2017, doubling
down on his passion not only for motorsports but in particular the
Indianapolis 500, and of course Mike Shank, who began racing back in 1989,
found success as a young driver and as someone who leads an extremely
successful sports car program, but then found himself with an opportunity to
get into INDYCAR a few years ago and has built on that ever since.
We'll begin with car owner Mike Shank, who has a very special announcement.
Good morning, Mike.
MICHAEL SHANK: Good morning. Thank you, everybody, for coming today. Although
it's not a huge surprise at this point, although we tried for it to be a
surprise, Meyer Shank Racing is really happy to announce that Helio
Castroneves will drive for six races next year. We can talk about which six
those are shortly.
This was a bit of a long process actually between Jim and I on who did we want
to fill this very specialized role, and it had to tick a lot of boxes. Helio
drove for me in 2007; is that right?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, that's right.
MICHAEL SHANK: 2007 in Daytona Prototype. We started to know each other then,
and through a lot of common friends we stayed friends over all the long years.
I think there's so many reasons why Helio is the right guy for us, but I will
lead with the passion. There's two things I want to say because this will be a
question. I think the passion Helio has is as strong as any 20-year-old out
there right now. I think the knowledge he has is times four of anybody out
there. And I have to be honest with you, we have metrics that we look at from
all the drivers that Bob Perona, our driver coach, has put together, and when
we look at Helio's numbers from 2016 and 2017, he's in the top four of all
categories when the switch happened over at Team Penske for him.
Of course we're not part of that at all, but what I'm saying is we saw a guy
that was still driving at a level that can compete with anybody.
Lastly, what can Helio bring to help Jack Harvey, and we've built our program
around Jack, and we're ready to expand it now, and we believe and we hope that
Helio is the right guy for us.
THE MODERATOR: Tremendous announcement. Congratulations to all three. We'll
start with Jim. It's kind of been a systematic growth for this team. What kind
of a step is this for you guys, Jim?
JIM MEYER: Really it's exactly what we planned, and seldom do things go as you
plan, but when I first met Mike, it's pretty funny, I approached him and said,
I might have some interest in getting into racing, and he said, well, that's
interesting, I don't really need a partner, and I said, yeah, you're right, I
don't really want to do this anyway.
Then he and I proceeded to meet together over a three- or four-month period
and lay out exactly what we wanted to do in INDYCAR and sports car, and
certainly adding a second driver and eventually moving to two full-time cars
on the INDYCAR circuit was a key cornerstone of what we laid out almost four
years ago, and I couldn't be more thrilled that we're on our way.
I have to acknowledge that as you know, I think it was three or four weeks ago
we announced that Liberty Media, who I know very well since they're a
controlling shareholder of Sirius XM and many, many key assets, I know them
very, very well. Obviously as you well know they control Formula 1, as well,
approached us about interest in becoming a part of what we were doing, and we
were thrilled that we were able to work that out, which actually accelerated
our efforts for a second car in the INDYCAR circuit.
THE MODERATOR: Helio, you're back!
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I'm back, man. I'm so, so excited. This is incredible.
As Mike alluded, we've known each other for a long time. Mike and his wife
built this team from scratch, and look what they were able to achieve, have an
incredible sports car program and an INDYCAR program, as well.
Jim obviously is a person that's passionate about racing. I think him and I
are going to get along very well especially because of that ingredient. I'm
looking forward to knowing him better.
And having Jack Harvey as a teammate, he's been showing an incredible amount
of speed on the racetrack. I guarantee you in 2021 he's going to become an
Indy winner, as well.
I'm looking forward to working with this group, looking forward to the races.
I know it's only six races; however, one of them is extremely important for
me, which is the Indy 500, and I can't wait to be in the race car right now.
THE MODERATOR: Mike, you said you want to get into the races. Maybe let's do
that and just talk about how mindful you have been in the expansion over the
years, and I guess you wonder if you did it too quickly would you be at this
point where you can expand to a second car here for the 2021 season?
MICHAEL SHANK: No, we'd be broke. I mean, let's see, in -- I'm getting
confused in years here. In 2019 we had a -- we started with six in '18, went
to 10 in '19. There was a point where we did the first six races of 2019 with
a scheduled 10, with a budget, but we were ninth or tenth in the championship
when kind of that first six races -- we looked at each other and said, hey, do
we want to continue. We could go for this and rob Peter to pay Paul, and we
all, including Jack, adamantly said, stick to the plan.
It's the same way with Helio here. We're going to do what we can afford to do
at the highest level we can give Helio. We're giving him an incredible car, an
incredible team that we've built around him. We'll have technical support
through Andretti.
We can talk now a little bit about the races. We're going to start with the
Barber Grand Prix. Then we're going to go right to Long Beach, and then we'll
go to the Indy 500, and then we'll do the Harvest August race at Indy road
course, and then we'll fish with Portland and Laguna.
That covers a lot of bases for us and our sponsors and partners. We will
announce partners as we get closer to things. We're still kind of working that
exactly out, what will be on the car.
The program has a ton of potential for the future, and Helio and I have an
agreement to keep working on it and do the best we can, and we'll see where
this thing goes with us in the future
While preparing to take to the track, Helio Castroneves finds himself at home at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the INDY 500. Image Credit: Chris Owens via NCIS (2020)
.
THE MODERATOR: Very cool. Again, virtually raise your hand and we'll take some
questions here in this virtual format.
Q.Two for Helio and one for Mr. Shank. Helio, you and I checked in quite a
bit during the month of August following your trevails talking to team
owners for next year and all that. When did all this begin, the dialogue
with Mike Shank?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: This was quite a while. Mike called me I think it was the
first race in Petit, the short one. We spoke about it, and it started growing.
He didn't -- for sure wasn't ready yet, and we kept just discussing and
talking, and here we are.
It wasn't right away, but Mike and Jim worked really hard for this opportunity
to happen, and I'm ecstatic. I'm ecstatic because I thought, okay, it's not
going to happen, and all of a sudden when things started growing, I was
actually getting more excited about it. Not only myself but Roger Penske is
one of the guys that I asked for guidance, and he is the one, as well, that
asked me, and here we are.
Q.So you have a part-time role with this team for six races; Ganassi has got
an opening for an oval driver in the 48. Are you kind of hoping to get
reunited on the track with your Brazilian boyhood buddy Tony Kanaan?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: It would be great. It would be great to be back with
everyone, with Tony, with Scott, with my former teammates from Penske, and
especially with Jack. As I said, Jack has been showing an incredible amount of
speed, and he's so close so many times. I'm really looking forward to working
with him and trying to build this relationship, new group, new group of guys,
new group of people, new friends. I'm looking forward to a great season.
Q.For Michael Shank, a couple of years ago I talked to you at Barber and
asked you when you were a one-off that year at Indy how you did it, what the
budget was, and you said you went and you rented the timing stand and the
pit equipment rather than buy it. Now here you are going from basically
renting pit equipment to running the Indy 500 to having a motorsports
powerhouse. Are you sometimes amazed at how fast this has come together for
you?
MICHAEL SHANK: Yeah. Yeah, we really are. You know, I put a lot of this on Jim
Meyer, to be honest with you. His passion for INDYCAR racing and his network
and his world has really pushed the INDYCAR program kind of over the top. Plus
on top of that I've learned a ton on contractual law and how to do deals. He
deals with some of the biggest celebrities in the world, and just getting a
nugget of that knowledge is really helpful for me I've found.
Listen, I think we'd have the sports car deal that we have today no matter,
but make no mistake, this INDYCAR deal is driven by Jim, and I'm lucky enough
to get to run the thing.
Q.Two questions for Helio and one for Mike. First off, Helio,
congratulations, fantastic news. You're one of the most decorated INDYCAR
drivers there is out there, three-time Indy 500 winner, as well. You've been
away for a while, so why come back now?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, you know, I have to say, I have to thank obviously
Team Penske to put me in the sports car program because I feel that it was a
great experience, and I feel much better as a driver today than actually I was
three years ago.
But you know, even though I was in the sports car program, INDYCAR has always
been part of my life. I enjoy it very much. I love the sport. I grew up in
open wheel. Basically as soon as the Acura program was terminated, I said, you
know what, let's go back. Let's go back because I feel that I have unfinished
business in the INDYCAR world. And here we go.
Having this program, six races, it's a great opportunity to come back and
build something unique. Again, Mike and Jim, they are able to build something
really spectacular, and I felt this could be a long way, and hopefully that's
the goal.
And again, not only that, but it's coming back to the Indy 500, which
obviously everybody knows we're really searching for that number four.
Couldn't do it anymore with Team Penske; it could be awesome to do it with
Mike and Jim and everyone at Shank Racing.
Q.You mentioned goals; what realistically is the goal for the season, given
it's a new team and a limited schedule?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, the sky's the limit, you know. We have a great
opportunity here. I don't see anything to stop us from having great results
and winning races. I feel that you saw Mike mention about it when we spoke, as
well, the commitment, not only from him, from his group, as well. Everyone is
really excited, and we've got to carry this momentum, and just, you know,
translate that to the race cars.
And Jack, as well, he has been there. He has already been with the team. It
would be great to have this synergy together so that we can work together so
that not only one car but both cars will be up there. Again, it's limited
races, yes, but it's a great opportunity, and one that I'm really looking
forward to.
Q.Mike, have you spoken with Helio about maybe running the IMSA sports car
program with you next season?
MICHAEL SHANK: Yeah, we've talked about a lot of different things. That's not
really what this announcement is about, but there's other things going on
there for sure.
I think for me, from how much I dreamed about the 500 and the -- just the
thought that we could have Helio or be a part of what Helio does to get a
fourth just puts me over the moon, and I know it does with Jim, too, and it
means a lot. What's that mean? It means I'm throwing everything we can at his
car. There will be no budget. It needs what it needs to be the fastest machine
we can make for him. Specifically for that race we're going to do lots of work
to make sure that car is as good as anything out there.
You ask about results. Listen, we should be able to fit -- it's tough to
parachute into these races, right, really tough, and that's been seen a lot
last year. But we're going to test Helio. He's going to get some opportunity
to run a little bit before we race, and there's no reason we can't finish in
the top 5 in any of the races we do, none of them, zero.
We look forward to trying to get that. I just feel lucky that we got him.
Q.A couple questions for both you guys. I'll start with Helio. Kind of going
off what Tim asked there, I know this is a new journey for you in your
INDYCAR career, so much of it that had been spent chasing 500s and
championships with Team Penske. I know it was important for you just to get
back to this series, but going into this next chapter of your career, what
kind of -- how do you feel like -- I'm trying to think -- how do you
characterize this next chapter and what do you want to get out of it more
than just kind of the results and the win side part of this?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Look, no question, with Team Penske it's 20 years we are
talking about. They are part of my family. They were part of my life
basically, my career, my life.
Right now, again, as you're still saying, Roger and I are partners in
dealerships and he is the guy that I'll always ask for guidance. But now there
is an opportunity here to make new friends, to build something different.
As you heard Mike saying, everything we're going to try to do here is to have
a phenomenal result, and especially in the Indy 500. When you see that, come
on, what more can you ask for?
As I mentioned before, Jim is a guy that's passionate about racing, and
everyone is excited. Everyone is looking forward to it. We have work, yes, no
question, but this is the new chapter of my life, as you mentioned, and I'm
looking forward to building new relationships and having great results, too.
Looking forward to it. I can't stop smiling because obviously I'm extremely
excited. It's been an amazing couple of months, no question, but we have a lot
of work to do, but I'm ready for that challenge.
Q.You mentioned reaching out to Roger and using him for guidance and for
advice. I'd be curious to know maybe kind of any advice or guidance he gave
you in this. I know you've been a part of the Team Penske family for so long
and it didn't seem like that was going to be an opportunity anymore. Did he
in some way kind of give you a blessing or encouragement to go out and
continue your career because he knows how passionate you are for racing in
general?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: In fact, Mike, when we started talking, he went to speak
with Cindric even before he was pursuing that idea. Roger knew about it. Roger
felt there was a great opportunity, as well.
As you said, he kind of gave the blessing, and we're all here now, and super
excited for next year.
Q.What do you feel like as far as this team goes, I know I think you said
back in August when you were talking about wanting to come back to INDYCAR
in some capacity, you said that you wanted to make sure that you were a part
of a competitive team and a team that could give you everything that you
needed to succeed going forward. What specifically about this team do you
feel like made that perfect fit for what you were looking for in a next
partner?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, hopefully I have enough time, but I have so many. One
is the passion of Jim, another one is the commitment of Mike, to make sure
that we get everything right for all the races, not only the Indy 500, for all
the races. Mike has been doing everything he can, the technical support from
Andretti, and obviously with having a great teammate, Jack, which has been
showing incredible amount of speeds all of the season.
You keep it going, and as I said before, the sky's the limit. We are committed
for six races. Who knows what's going to happen in the future, but at this
point all of these ingredients were able to show me this is the right
direction, and that's why we're here.
Q.Mike, you talked a little bit about why you felt like Helio was a good
match for what you guys were looking for in building that second seat. What,
I guess, is the roadmap, or is there any sort of roadmap that you guys have
laid out beyond the six races that you have planned this year? Do you have
maybe a number of years in mind as far as how long you hope it will take to
build up to two full-season program cars?
MICHAEL SHANK: We have a roadmap that we're going to stick to that we use with
Jack, and depending on what we put together for partners, it could be
heightened or quickened, so we did six this year. We want to push that to at
least 10 the year after, maybe the full season. We'll do with what the
economics dictate and the partnerships dictate. Jim, do you have any thoughts
on that?
JIM MEYER: Yeah, I would say the one thing that Mike reiterated earlier and
it's taught me early on in this, passion can get ahead of your wallet if
you're not careful because I mean, we're very competitive. By the way, I would
just point out, I think as participants in this sport and owners, drivers,
team members, we sometimes forget how good the racing in INDYCAR is. In my
opinion it's the best in the world, and I realize my partners own F1. I think
it's the most competitive and best racing in the world. And by the way,
there's no reason why we can't win every week, and particularly with -- we
couldn't be more thrilled with our partnership with Andretti racing and the
technology we're getting.
I think the point Mike has taught me is not to let your passion get ahead of
your plan, so we're very careful. We are not going to go any faster than we
have the proper amount of funding. And I don't mean -- we could put the
funding together now to expand, but we want to expand correctly and do it the
way that we have with Jack and continue on that way.
It's going to be all about how we build, I call it the book, going forward for
a commitment of the money to be able to do this correctly, but I'm confident
we'll do that.
Q.For both Mike or Jim, whoever wants to chime in here or both of you
certainly can, you both I think have spoken on it a little bit already on
why you think a seasoned veteran driver was the proper fit. Is this just a
partnership for 2021, you guys will evaluate and move forward? Is this a
multiyear program that you hope you guys can build with Helio, or do you see
this kind of maybe as some sort of a bridge maybe to what you guys can be
five years down the road?
MICHAEL SHANK: We want to build it. If Helio is the guy, we both agree, Helio
and us agree, we'll go forward with Helio if he wants to. We've all been in
this a long time, and I want to see how this year goes. It takes a little bit
to get the gel to happen. But you know what I like about this is I've got --
when you decide are you going to do a young or new guy or are you going to do
a veteran guy, I just like hungry guys. I like hungry. I don't care how old
you are. I don't care how old. Do the job. I've got a hungry guy that I know
can do the job and wants to get a fourth Indy 500. So what's the choice? He's
sitting there on the TV with us. So I'm really pleased to have him.
Q.Quick question for Mike and Helio. Mike, how important is it for you from
both a business perspective but also a personal perspective that you have
two cars next season to kind of build the momentum from this year into next
year?
MICHAEL SHANK: It's very important. This is part of the grand plan that Jim
and I when we sat down three years ago said that we want to do. We want to do
it correctly, like we've said all along here.
You know, we're going to do two INDYCARs and one prototype car this year. This
is exactly the size of business that Jim and I want to be. Jim can speak for
himself here. We have plenty of work. We're building a new shop. We have 45
people working for us now, which is not a little team anymore.
Just so many positive things that have happened since Jim and I came together.
I don't even know what to say. But this is just a natural evolution.
Jim and I like to sit and have a beer at the end of each day at the 500 in
front of our motor homes, and to have two opportunities to sit and have a beer
like that, that's just perfect for me. I don't know about you, Jim.
JIM MEYER: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. You know, at this point with our
investment, we have in my opinion a huge new shop under construction in Ohio
that we broke ground on about eight weeks ago that we're thrilled to
accommodate the size of our new program. We wouldn't be building that if we
weren't in this for the long-term.
And I just -- I haven't said it, we're thrilled to have Helio. I think Mike
summed it up. We're just kind of thinking -- we think we got lucky, and we
think he's going to be a tremendous partner for Jack. We're really pleased
with our -- but we took a chance on Jack. Funny story, when Jack and I first
met, we took a chance with Jack. We're thrilled with his progress, and I think
2021 is going to be a really, really outstanding year for us with both the No.
60 and the No. 6 car.
Q.For Helio, for yourself obviously this is a new chapter for you in your
career. Do you feel like you're a rookie going into a new team or do you
think you'll be able to bring an awful lot of your previous experience from
Penske into MSR to kind of guide Jack then, as well, for next season?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, it's starting out, again, no question, but it's
starting different. When I started 10 years ago I had no experience, and now I
know exactly what I need, I know exactly what I want and I see the commitment
that the entire organization is ready to do it. That's not only showing me the
light at the end of the tunnel but it pumps me up to go out there and probably
the guys are going to say get out of here at one point because I'm going to be
like digging everything I can, because it's what I love. That's the only thing
I know how to do is drive cars, and that's part of my passion, and that's what
I'm looking forward to.
It's great when you rejuvenate. It's great when you have something different
and something new, but you see everyone putting the efforts together.
Man, this is going to be great.
THE MODERATOR: Mike, I know you've got to split. You're involved in a
championship chase, as is Helio. I assume you guys are going to be rooting for
each other.
MICHAEL SHANK: Yeah, what we're trying to do is not hit each other.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Be sure when you see the No. 7, just wave and stop the
other guys.
THE MODERATOR: Jack Harvey, back full time; Helio Castroneves, six-race deal,
including the running of the Indianapolis 500. Congratulations Mike, Jim,
Helio, good luck this weekend. Enjoy the off-season and can't wait to see you
back on track in 2021. Thank you all very much. [ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]
To have one of the best ambassadors for open-wheel racing back in the paddock
is good news. The only thing that would make this a better deal from a fan
perspective, would be the full season with a chance at possible swan song
career-ending NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship.
Colton Herta sets his earpieces along pit lane during the Open Test at Circuit of The Americas. Image Credit: Chris Jones - NICS (2019)
Rookie Herta Sets Pace On Day One Of NTT IndyCar Series Spring Training
Colton Herta wasted no time making his presence felt in the NTT IndyCar Series. The Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie was quickest in both on-track sessions on opening day of INDYCAR Spring Training at Circuit of The Americas.
Herta, driving the No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda, logged the best lap of anyone among the 25 drivers participating Tuesday in the official series open test on the 3.41-mile permanent road course. The 18-year-old son of retired Indy car driver Bryan Herta, who's now an NTT IndyCar Series team co-owner, navigated the COTA course in 1 minute, 46.6258 seconds (115.132 mph).
"I'm super happy with how the day went," said Colton Herta, the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires runner-up who made his NTT IndyCar Series debut in last September's season finale at Sonoma Raceway and is slated to run the full season this year.
"We did some great things to the car and I'm very happy with how the boys got everything together in time for this test," he added. "Everyone did a fantastic job and there were no issues with the car; it was perfect. We kept chipping away and kept finding time. By the end of the day, we were quickest by quite a margin. I can't wait for tomorrow now."
A second day of testing is set for Wednesday, with six more hours of on-track time. The NTT IndyCar Series will return to COTA from March 22-24 to conduct its first race on the spectacular road course, the INDYCAR Classic.
A total of 1,034 laps were turned by the drivers on Tuesday. Following Herta on the combined timesheet were Team Penske drivers Will Power and Helio Castroneves. Power, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, ran a lap of 1:47.1044 (114.617 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Castroneves, who will try for a record-tying fourth Indy 500 title in May, was clocked at 1:47.6949 (113.989 mph) in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet.
"We were trying to get it into a good (setup) window where you can make small adjustments on the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet," Power said. "We took some big swings at it today and (were) trying to understand when the tire comes in and how long it lasts, and what package we want to run. We wound up with a lot of big changes.
Will Power on course during the Open Test at Circuit of The Americas. Image By: John Cote - NICS (2019)
"I think the track is phenomenal," the 2014 NTT IndyCar Series champion added. "It's got every sort of corner you can dream of. I think all the drivers are going to love to keep coming here."
Chip Ganassi Racing teammates came in next on the speed chart, with rookie Felix Rosenqvist fourth at 1:48.0451 (113.619 mph) in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda. Scott Dixon, the reigning and five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, was fifth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda (1:48.0474, 113.617 mph).
Test sessions are scheduled for 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET Wednesday. Live timing and scoring is available at RaceControl.IndyCar.com. [ht: IndyCar]
... notes from The EDJE
TAGS:NTT IndyCar Series, COTA, Circuit of The Americas, Day One, Spring Training, Colton Herta, No. 88, Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Honda, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, NICS, The EDJE
Penske Racing's Josef Newgarden after hitting the podium (P3 - Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach) for the first time in his first year with professional open-wheel racing's elite team. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)
American Open-Wheel 2017 Championship Chances Book-Ended By Americans
One of the main reasons the Indy Racing League was formed was to bring along and develop more race car drivers who were born in America to race at the highest levels of professional open-wheel motorsports.
Thirty-one years later we have come to the point in the Verizon IndyCar Series Championship that, with one double-points paying race, six (possibly seven) drivers have a chance at winning the The Astor Cup ... named maintained after one of the first major trophies in American auto racing.
Indy 500 winner, Alexander Rossi as he sits in the cockpit of his Andertti Autosport prepared Honda-powered Dallara in the pits at the second race of the 2017 season - the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. All four Andretti Autosport cars did not finish the race due to mechanical or electrical issues. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)
The six drivers, after just 16 races, go into Sears Point area of San Francisco bay at Sonoma Raceway with a mathimatical shot at the end of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma are framed by the points leader who is driving in his first year for Penske Racing, Josef Newgarden and, at 84 points down driving in his second year for Andretti Autosport, Alexander Rossi. If one wished to be a bit more generous - at 94 points behind the points leader is another American born driver, Graham Rahal driving for a single car team formed by Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
But let's be very honest, with 100 points awarded for the first car over the Start/Finish line, the top four points-holding drivers would have to NOT finish very early on in the 85 lap, 12 corner, natural-terrain road course, almost 203 mile, Grand Prix.
After 16 races of a 17 race season, the top six contenders who have an arguable mathematical chance at winning it all for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sept. 17. Image Credit: VICS
The stack ranking by season points is as follows - listing with post race INDYCAR Grand Prix At The Glen quotations:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 2 DeVilbiss Team Penske Chevrolet) - 560 points: "It was kind of an eventful day for the DeVilbiss Chevrolet team. I felt like we were in a good position until that final pit stop. No excuse for it. It was my fault. I saw Will (Power) leave right in front of us and I just locked it up and slid over into the wall. Then Sebastien (Bourdais) got into the back of me. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing I can do about it. We'll go to Sonoma in a couple of weeks and race for it."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 NTT Data Honda) - 557 points (-3): "It was definitely an exciting day for the No. 9 NTT Data car. I locked up the tires on the first stop and I don't think we got any fuel. We had to save fuel on the next stint as a result and battled our way back. I think we passed a lot of cars today and it was fun to contend with (Alexander) Rossi there for the win. Big congrats to him and good to see Honda run strong at Watkins Glen."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) - 538 points (-22): "The Hitachi Chevy was so awesome today, and it was a great job by the No. 3 car guys. We were really fast out there - it's been a long time since I was able to go flat out through the carousel in the race, but we were doing that today. We had some issues on the black Firestone tires, but we were able to recover and really pushed hard there to finish fourth. I feel really bad for Josef (Newgarden) with his incident. It's unfortunate for the team, but it's mixed feelings for me because it tightens up the championship. We definitely have a good chance heading into Sonoma and I feel really good about our setup there. We'll be ready to go for it and finish strong."
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet) - 526 points (-34): "We fought for the best finish we could today in the Menards Chevrolet. We were really prepared for a wet race, and if it would have been run in the rain, I think we would have been tough to beat. But we just had too much downforce to run in the dry and make up the ground we needed to. Still, everyone on the team did a good job to finish ninth and we come out of Watkins Glen still in the hunt for the championship. We know what it takes to win at Sonoma and that's what we'll be fighting for (in Sonoma)."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) - 492 points (-68): "It was just an up and down day for the Verizon Chevrolet group. There were times the car was really fast, but that first set of tires didn't agree with the car at all. I thought the car was broken. It wouldn't do anything I wanted it to. After that, it was good. I can't be unhappy about sixth. I don't know what kind of legitimate chance at the championship I have, but stranger things have happened, I guess. We'll go to Sonoma and give it everything we have."
ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda) - 476 points (-84): "An amazing job by the whole team today. We had an issue in the beginning with some fuel, the fuel (probe), but whatever. It doesn't matter, the team recovered. We had the pace to do it, but it's pretty amazing. It's a huge team effort. I've talked so much about how much we've improved, I'm so happy we're finally able to win." (About battle with Scott Dixon at end of race): "We had a fast car. I knew we had a fast car because we were hitting a fuel number before the final stop and we had pace. I knew he was going to be pushing like hell at the end, and so it was really 12 qualifying laps, and I had the car to do it. We had time, we had the pace, the performance, the tire life, everything was going our way. A huge hats off to Andretti Autosport. Thank you to NAPA Auto Parts, thank you to Honda. We're coming really hard for 2018."
American born driver, Graham Rahal as he bounces over the rumble strips in Turn 5 at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. He qualified 6th in the Firestone Fast Six and went on to finish the second race of the season at P10. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)
And bonus driver ...
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) - 466 points (-94): "It was a good day. There was a lot of passing because a lot of us expected rain and with the downforce levels being all over the board, there were some guys that were really draggy and some guys a little more rimmed. I was right in the middle. There was a lot of passing going on all over the place. We're going to fight on here. I didn't have anything to lose (in the championship fight) coming here but as we saw today with (Josef) Newgarden, things can happen so fast. We're out of winning the championship, but we're certainly not out of finishing the top three or four. We're seventh in the points. The way I look at it is, we didn't score points in the first four races of the year, but we were the hottest team through the middle of the season and it got us back in contention. We didn't score as many points as we would have liked, but we have a lot to be proud of. We're going to be in attack mode for sure. It's a shame the last two races didn't go our way when they should have because we would have been right in the middle of the title fight, but that's the way it goes. That's racing." [ht: VICS]
All things considered, Penske Racing's Simon Pagenaud had a good outing at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Defending race winner and 2016 VICS champion Pagenaud was penalized for interfering with one of his teammate Castroneves' laps and was stripped of his two fastest laps in the session, relegating him to last place (P21) on the grid. Simon went on to finish the only other West Coast race of the 2017 season at P5. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)
The realistic gaming on all of this would give the highest probability at grabbing the championship to just the top three points holders at this time in the season. Newgarden, Dixon or Castroneves are all the odds on favorites ... but recent history of this double-points paying race places simple and realistic gaming at risk.
Two years ago, the top six drivers that had a shot at winning the title were Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya, Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Graham Rahal (-34 points), Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon (-47 points), Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves (-58 points), Penske Racing's Will Power (-59 points), and Ed Carpenter Racing's Josef Newgarden (-95 points).
Justin Bell and Scott Dixon share an early season conversation at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach media luncheon atop the parking structure just East of the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center South of E. Seaside Way. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)
This excerpted and edited from Motorsports Journal -
Dixon/Ganassi Triple-Down & Double-Up To Wrest Control At The GoPro GP of Sonoma By Edmund Jenks - Motorsports Journal - Wednesday, September 02, 2015 In the media room, around the paddocks, and campgrounds around Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point, there were speculations as to who would win the Verizon IndyCar Series 2015 season finale race and, due to a double-points award, potentially win the season championship. At no point in the lead up to this final race was there a story line that included Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who sat at P3, 47 points behind Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM), not just winning the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma ... but further, the 2015 American open-wheel racing championship. Almost all of the pre-race chatter centered on "just who" had what it would take to get the most points through qualifications, bonus points, and win the race (obviously, Will Power) ... or who had the charge to grab the championship and maybe the race from Penske Racing and JPM (obviously, Graham Rahal). Scott Dixon, and the PR Department of Target Chip Ganassi Racing were the consummate ghosts. Little was being speculated about in pre-race press releases and interviews from this organization about their chances at the Sonoma Raceway finale and the IndyCar season. However, at race's end and at post-race press conferences - the floodgates of strategic possibility thinking opened up ... and a few folks were surprised at the final tie-breaking results.
[Reference Here]
Penske Racing's Will Power would have been higher in the points race if he had been able to turn his 50th pole winning position into a full race performance. After a 14-year absence, the Verizon IndyCar Series returned to Gateway Motorsports Park paperclip style oval, outside of St. Louis, for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. On a lap 5 Green Flag restart, Will Power slid into the wall after being passed for the lead by teammate and eventual race winner (who qualified at P2), Josef Newgarden. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)
Book-ended by Americans, you say?
Well, as it turns out, the other drivers have spent so much of their professional career in the United States that they are accepted as our kindred sons in American motor culture.
Scott Dixon will be hoping to get his 5th IndyCar championship making him second only to AJ Foyt (7).
Helio Castroneves who has three Indy 500 titles - placed second in the season standings four times, third two times and fourth four times ... but still has not won the championship.
Simon Pagenaud won the Verizon IndyCar Series last year and has been racing in sports cars and IndyCar for the last eleven years with another series championship in ChampCar Atlantics.
Lastly, Will Power, a staple in American racing series since 2005, was the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion - this year saw him eclipse Dario Franchiti in total races won in the series and added to his Verizon P1 Pole awards total to 50 which tied him with Castroneves for third on the all-time IndyCar pole list.
Looks as though we all will be treated to an All-American top seven drivers competing for the Astor Cup at Sonoma during the Verizon IndyCar Series finale.
Que the band for a stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, shaped by the sound of 2.2-liter (134.35 cubic inches) V-6, twin-turbocharged, Max. bore diameter 95 millimeters engines.
... notes from The EDJE
TAGS:GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, Sonoma Raceway, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal, Penske Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, The EDJE
Will this finally be the year that Helio Castroneves captures the Verizon IndyCar Series season championship? In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 23 wins and 38 poles, and placed second in the season standings four times, third two times and fourth four times - but never one series championship. Maybe more importantly, Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 in 2001, 2002 and 2009, making him one of only nine total drivers, and the only active driver, to have won this iconic race at least three times. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2016)
For 2017 ... INDYCAR's "NEXT" Is Next
On New Year's Day, INDYCAR released the fourth chapter of its "Racing Heart" advertising campaign designed to kick off the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season.
Following three consecutive years showcasing the thrilling traits of the sport, INDYCAR's communications in 2017 will feature the next exciting chapter of on-track action, the next drivers to watch, the next technology and innovation.
The theme "NEXT" builds upon the successful season concepts "RIVALS," "SPEED" and "LEGENDS." With the turning of the calendar, a brand video teasing the new communication plan was shared via social and digital media.
INDYCAR's "NEXT" is next.
"We're confident and focused on INDYCAR's future," said C.J. O'Donnell, chief marketing officer of INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "The theme 'NEXT' will effectively deliver our message of continued growth and expresses the momentum our sport has experienced the last three seasons."
INDYCAR's growth since 2013 has been highlighted by a 55 percent increase in overall television viewership across all Verizon IndyCar Series broadcasts on ABC and NBCSN. The series also has experienced increases in event attendance, including six record crowds during the 2016 season.
The theme "NEXT" was developed for the upcoming Verizon IndyCar Series season in cooperation with brand agency partner Johnson & Wolverton and will be prominent in television, digital, print, radio and social platforms.
The theme also speaks to INDYCAR's expanded audience reach.
INDYCAR's success as the fastest-growing form of motorsport in the United States today has come through embracing its core audience, fans who have loved Indy car racing for decades. Studies show the brand attributes of the Verizon IndyCar Series - the speed, sound and thrilling nature of the sport - also resonate with the next generation of fans and that youth movement allows INDYCAR to expand its target audience to Gen X and Gen Z like never before.
The initial emphasis will be on 2016 series champion Simon Pagenaud and new American star Alexander Rossi, the winner of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil this past May. Plus, there will be excitement for driver/dancer James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Graham Rahal and several other bold drivers.
INDYCAR will use the excitement emanating from the next century of Indianapolis 500s at every event across the 17-race season, including the next track to join the momentum: Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis.
The Verizon IndyCar Series schedule begins March 12 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and will be highlighted by the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 28. (ht: IndyCar)
... notes from The EDJE
TAGS: Verizon IndyCar Series, Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi, Indianapolis 500, "Racing Heart", "NEXT", ABC, NBCSN, The EDJE
Josef Newgarden as he sits in his Ed Carpenter Racing prepared No. 21 Chevy Dallara at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach pit box. Newgarden seems just perfect this year to be tapped for Team Penske since he finished the year at P-4 ... just behind P-1 Pagenaud, P-2 Power, and P-3 Castroneves - his new teammates for 2017. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2016)
Josef Newgarden And Team Penske - American Dream Becomes Reality
The rumors that began to crop up around the paddocks during the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma season finale of the Verizon IndyCar Series held at Sonoma Raceway September 18th had many scenarios bandied about. One of the more far reaching was that the new American Driver of the series, Alexander Rossi (2016 Rookie of the Year | INDY 500 Winner | finished season at P-11) was seen coming out of a Team Penske transporter during the previous race at Watkins Glen.
This rumor was put to bed recently when Andretti Autosport was able to retain Rossi as Bryan Herta's agreement with the Andretti organization became more formal for the 2017 season. American Driver, American Team ... American Dream.
Cresting the highest point of the Sonoma Raceway road course, Newgarden enjoys blue, blue skies as he sews up P-4 in the 2016 championship points race. The fact remains that only Team Penske drivers were the only drivers to lock out Ed Carpenter Racing and Josef Newgarden from placing higher in the Verizon IndyCar Series points chase. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2016)
Today, the announcement that caught everyone's attention that involved American Team Penske and the pursuit of the American Dream was the confirmation that American Driver Josef Newgarden (finished season at P-4) was signed to drive the No. 2 car for the 2017 season. He will replace last season's INDY 500 winner and season points leader Juan Pablo Montoya, who ended last year in a tie of points after the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma season finale and lost out on the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Championship through the pre-established tie-breaker to Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and finished P-2. This year JPM finished P-8.
The rumor of Rossi had some plausibility since his career had been rather extraordinary with his early rise through to an F1 ride, to signing with the Bryan Herta / Andretti Autosport combo team and winning the INDY 500 first time out. When one thinks about it, this would be all too soon since landing a seat with Team Penske is never a gamble for the team - they always have the patience and the time to pick just the right fit and talent for the organization.
Josef Newgarden in his Ed Carpenter Racing pit stand following practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Image Credit: Chris Owens - VICS
A look at Josef Newgarden's rise through the ranks through these last five years, points out how focused this determined driver really is - Tony DiZinno's NBCSports review HERE.
PULL QUOTE: It’s not very often you meet a driver coming up through the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires ladder system and immediately think, “this kid just gets it.”
A Penske Racing conference call interview with: JOSEF NEWGARDEN TIM CINDRIC October 5, 2016
MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to today's media teleconference introducing Josef Newgarden as Team Penske's newest Verizon IndyCar Series driver. Along with Josef, we have Team Penske president Tim Cindric joining us today.
Earlier this morning we announced that Josef Newgarden is joining Team Penske as the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet beginning in 2017. This obviously comes on the heels of one of our most successful seasons ever in IndyCar where we earned 10 wins, 11 poles, our 14th IndyCar championship with Simon Pagenaud and a 1-2-3 sweep in the points standings, something we had not done since 1994.
Josef Newgarden as he bangs across the rumble strips in the off-camber Turn 5 at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. He finished the race through the concrete canyons by the sea at P-10. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2016)
Josef, you've been able to spend some time in the shop this morning. What are impressions of Team Penske so far?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, it's been a whirlwind for me. It's all happened a bit fast, which is great. It's just like racing. Everything goes quickly.
So for me, it's been a pleasure to try and meet a lot of the guys this morning within Team Penske. You know, trying to absorb as much as I can. It's almost information overload for a guy like me. Really excited to be here and hopefully add some more value to the group, which is going to be hard to do. They have got a lot of amazing people here, whether it's the manager, the ownership, sponsors, all the crewmen, the drivers. It's really a lot to get your head around.
So I think for me, I'm just trying to absorb as much as possible and taking in the experience and being prepared for the long off‑season that we're going to have before we get to St. Pete next year.
THE MODERATOR: Tim, can you tell us why Josef is such a good fit to drive for Team Penske?
TIM CINDRIC: Yeah, I think that from an historical perspective, you look at it, and you know, he's the first American that we've had driving in IndyCar here since Sam Hornish, so it's been ten years. That's not the reason we hired him.
Obviously we look for the guys that can drive the car and that's what we've always looked at, but it's a bonus, for sure. The fact that as we look at it, we wanted somebody that we could build on for the future.
It's no secret that he's bringing the average age of our drivers down a little bit, so I think it's somebody that we can build with and I guess the most important thing is showing that he can be successful at this level. He's somebody that we met with when he was the Indy Lights champion. I remember meeting with he and Rick and Roger after he won the Lights Championship, and he's somebody we've kept our eye on from that point in time.
No different than when we signed Simon, you have to decide if you're going to make a place for somebody like that, or if you're going to race against him for awhile. So we figured he was better off being on our side than on the other side.
Q. You're coming off an amazing season, given what transpired in June at Texas. How does it feel to be driving for Penske now?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, it's amazing. I think for me, as a still hopefully, relatively young guy in the sport, it's an amazing opportunity. It's something that I think you really have to take a hard look at and make a decision on, and for me, it was difficult to look the other way at it.
I think it's a great place where I can learn new experiences, try and grow as a driver, and kind of open up my whole role within the group and try and just become better within the sport.
So I mean, just to put it simply, it feels amazing. It's an amazing honor, just for me, I just want to be able to integrate into the team and be a part of the whole system that obviously works really well together already. Had a very successful year in IndyCar and they are very hard to compete against. It's fun for me to be a part of that now and hopefully add some value to the whole group.
Q. And for you, Tim, with Josef taking over Juan Pablo Montoya's seat, is it pretty safe to say that JPM is leaving the team after this year?
TIM CINDRIC: Well, it's something that we're still working through. You know, when we sat down with Juan around Toronto, and had told him at that point in time that we weren't prepared to make any decisions on what we were going to do going forward until the end of the season.
And we wanted to understand, really, what our options were, and we were very up front with him about that whole situation. And all along, we said that we'd like him to be part of our team in the future.
That doesn't necessarily mean driving our No. 2 car full‑time. We've talked to him about, you know, we've got a seat for him at Indy if he wants one, and if we do the sports car program, we'd like him to be involved in it.
You know, at that point in time, he said, look, I really want to drive at least another season of IndyCar. I don't want this to be my last season. If it was last year, it would be a little easier to take, but this year, I still feel like I have some unfinished business.
And we agreed to just explore different options at that point, which is really what he's trying to do right now. Finding out if there's a full season ride available, and we said that our offer is open to him and we'd love for him to continue with our team.
It's just something that we needed to decide whether we were going to position ourselves to do that for another year and miss the opportunity to have Josef as part of our team for the future.
So, a really difficult decision for us, because Juan has really been a big part of our success. Despite where he finished this year, he pushed our guys very hard. He's been a great guy to work with and would continue to love working with him in the future. Really, the ball is in his court. It's not the first choice for him, but we'd like to continue some association with him if it makes sense for him.
Q. When you were at Ed Carpenter Racing, that was always known as the little team that could. Now you're at the big super power team that always does. And the resources that you have at Team Penske when you go around their shop and all that, now that that's going to be at your disposal, what goes through your mind?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I think pressure is always present wherever you're at. I always put pressure on myself with any situation I was in driving in IndyCar. I think we had high expectations at ECR, and rightfully so.
I thought we had a lot of talented people there. We had a really great process, great ownership and great partners. Really had a lot of tools to be successful. With that, there was a lot of pressure there to do a good job, for everyone involved, our partners, our ownership.
I don't foresee that shifting too much. I think you're going to have that sense of responsibility anywhere you race, but it certainly is hard to not be inspired, I guess, or overwhelmed when you walk into the Penske establishment. It's filled with a lot of great people, as well. A lot of great partners. Tremendous support from the ownership. I think that same type of pressure that I felt at ECR is really going to actually translate pretty well to what I feel here, as well.
Q. Two of your teammates live in the area, live in North Carolina; Helio lives down in Miami. Will you be relocating to North Carolina?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You know, I would think so. I'd like to be close to the team and to be able to absorb as much as I can over the off‑season. I think that's really important. You've really got to integrate yourself well and give yourself the best shot to help the group, especially for me going into 2017.
So I haven't really had much time to go over that stuff. This has been a pretty fast process and we're trying to just hit the ground running real quick now and today, and I'm absorbing everything I can as fast as I can here at the shop. I'll try and sort out a living situation later on, but I would think at some point, yeah, I'm going to have to locate down here so I can be close to the team 100 percent.
Q. Josef for you, when I look at it from a teammate situation, it's been a rotating door. You either haven't had a teammate, you've had one‑off teammates, you've had sometimes road course, sometimes oval teammates. How nice is it going to be having the consistent, not just one teammate, but three of the best drivers on the grid as your teammates?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I think it will be great. It's going to be a different challenge for me, I think, from an establishment standpoint. You've got more guys to work with. That brings more engineers to talk to. It changes the discussion, the whole dynamic that you go through on a race weekend.
I'm excited for that. It's going to be a shift for me, something I've not been used to. But I don't want to discount what I've been up against in the past. I've had a lot of help from my previous owner, Ed Carpenter. He was a great teammate to me, very strong on the ovals, J.R. Hildebrand, Spencer Pigot, Luca Filippi. There's been a lot of camaraderie in the past for me and I've had a lot of great guys to work with and bounce things off of.
What's really going to change is there's going to be more of that. There's going to be more available here at this group, which I think you can see why they operate at such a high level, when you get that many talented people together, it really helps elevate the whole program and you push each other a lot more. It's going to be different.
I don't know what that's going to be like. I'm excited for it. I hope it pushes me to a new level. I'm probably going to figure some things out about myself I didn't know and hopefully those are good things; the bad things, I'll try and fix them pretty quick. But I think it's going to be a great change.
Q. When would you expect to see Josef make his first test in the car?
TIM CINDRIC: Monday morning in Elkhart Lake. We'll be taking all four guys to Road America on Monday, so he'll get a chance. It's really a unique opportunity because a lot of times when we make a change like this, it's a while before they get in the car. We had scheduled a test independent of whether we made a driver change or not.
So that's not really the catalyst; the catalyst for us is to get some permanent road course testing in before the winter months, because we feel like it's something that we need to understand a bit better before we go into the off‑season.
So the timing was good for him and he will also be doing a test at Gateway later that week, as well. He's going to get some seat time right off the bat and be able to get in the trenches with our guys and get acclimated very quickly so that in the off‑season we can, I guess, speak from experience.
Q. Congratulations. You're a Detroit guy now.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Absolutely. It's the Motor City.
Q. Tell me, the makeup of the team, you have an Aussie, you have a Brazilian and a Frenchman. Are you going to be able to merge with these guys? Got a lot of competition up here with Team Penske. How do you think the synergy will be and how tough is it to tell Ed that you were leaving and how did he take it?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I think to take your first question, I don't know. I mean, I've not had this type of dynamic with personalities before like we're going to have. But I think you can definitely see there's a strong work ethic and a strong sense of team work here within Team Penske.
So I think the challenge aspect of having three other really talented drivers around me is only going to be a positive thing. There's guys from all over the world that bring a little something to the table, and I'm going to try and do the same.
I'm going to try and bring a little something extra that these guys haven't seen before which helps the whole program. And in return, I'm expecting to get a lot of that from those guys. I'm excited for that mix. I don't know what it looks like. Don't know what it feels like yet.
Like Tim said, we're going to have an opportunity to do that really quickly, which is unique. It just kind of worked out, great timing. Excited to see what that brings.
On the inside, you know, it's very difficult. It was really difficult ‑‑ it was almost easy up until the end of the season, because I didn't really put much time into it. We really just focused on trying to win the championship, get back in the hunt after the whole Texas deal.
We had a great effort going all year with ECR, and so I didn't really spend much time thinking about it. I waited to spend a week and take some time after the season finale to really assess everything; and I came to the conclusion of where I wanted to go and where I saw things and where they probably needed to head.
And when I had a conversation and made the decision with Ed, it was difficult. I mean, it was a great partnership. It was a great, great environment for me and to do something different is never easy, but I think at this point, it can be a very positive thing for the growth of my career, and I think ECR is going to come out great from it, as well.
Q. Jokingly, in the spirit of the political season, I wonder if you can offer an endorsement for who might replace you at ECR. You've worked with Spencer and J.R. and there's some interesting candidates out there for sure.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You know, fortunately I'm not in the position where I have to decide those things. So you know, luckily that's down to the different people.
Like I said, Ed's got a great group with the ownership they have over there, so I'm sure they are going to make a great choice. They have got a great team.
So I expect to be chasing hard to beat them. I know what it's like on that side and they have a really good product. I don't think it's going to be easy coming to the other side trying to beat them now. So I have no idea. I hope they make the best choice, and I'm sure they will, and we'll see where they land.
Q. You mentioned this came together rather quickly. But you also knew that the Penske organization had sort of been watching you for a few years there. What's that dynamic like, and when did you kind of get the sense that if the numbers and the contract stuff could be worked out, that this was going to be the place that you wanted to be?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, you know, I don't think I did. I think it was ‑‑ fortunately it was a short, but it was a short period of time where I was in limbo. I actually didn't have a job. So you hope it's going to work out. But like I said, I didn't have much time to think about it during the season because we had such a great effort going. We all really wanted to focus on trying to win the championship, which was the most important thing.
And then when I finally did start to think about it after Sonoma, really aggressively ‑‑ I knew there would be other opportunities. I knew there would be other interests and I knew I wanted to try something different. I knew that was something that I was looking at heavily, and I think at that point, you try and go a different direction and hope it all works out and fortunately this time, it did.
Q. Josef seems a bit against the grain for some of your recent hires in that he's a little younger than Simon and Will and didn't bring two championships like Sam did. What made him the guy even back when you spoke to him several years ago that you thought he was going to be a guy that you had to have eventually in your lineup?
TIM CINDRIC: Well, he's shown me he's a winner. He's shown me he can handle himself on the racetrack and off the racetrack, and that's really the core ingredient for us, is somebody that can work in our environment, because our environment is not for everybody.
But at the same time, as Roger has always said, it's hard to run a driving school with the expectations that are here and we need to also have somebody that we feel like can work within our group, our teammates and that kind of thing.
When you look at who we've hired over the years, it's been an important part of our structure, although it's not the No. 1 requirement, we want people that can drive race cars and represent our organization and those that we represent in the right way. Felt like he fit that mold.
Obviously he's got a longer runway in terms of age than maybe some of the hires have or what‑have‑you, but that's really not the motivator, either. It's more about how do we build the strongest team we have for the upcoming years. We felt like, as I said, there's never a good time to make a change, especially when you've had success with the guys we've had.
You know, replacing Juan Montoya with anybody, that's a difficult call. I'm sure if he doesn't end up racing for us in the future, he'll still be winning races and he'll still be one of the guys to beat. You know, he's not done for sure. So it's just a matter of us trying to understand what's best for us, and short‑term and long‑term, I guess that will all play out, but this is where we are.
Q. Have you identified a potential long‑term partner or whether we can expect a sponsorship partner or whether we can expect to see the No. 2 in the kind of like variety that we have seen the last year like PPG, Verizon and DeVilbiss?
TIM CINDRIC: Yeah, I would say there would be a few exceptions to that, additions or subtractions possibly. Our 2017, our total lineup for every race isn't totally defined. We needed to get this piece of the puzzle out there first. But I don't see it being dramatically different.
Q. Do you think that Joseph's personality, and obviously now reputation for sheer speed, do you think that that will help attract a more long‑term partner?
TIM CINDRIC: We've got a lot of personalities around here, as you know (laughing). I think he'll bring a different dynamic for sure, and I certainly see it as a positive going forward. I think it helps the potential. I don't think it hurts the potential in any way.
Q. I wanted to ask whether you feel like, as someone referred to earlier, you're the only American and you're suddenly in a prominent position; whether you feel like kind of an almost patriotic sense of pride ‑‑ not just pride, but actual dependency, like the future of IndyCar is depending on you. So many people say that IndyCar will spring to even greater prominence once we have an American champion again.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I think a great championship is going to be built on a lot more than one person. I can't see that coming to fruition.
There's definitely a sense of pride in being American, especially joining a team like Penske. I think it's one of the most successful teams in the world and a team you dream about being a part of. It really is, it's kind of the American dream, the team itself.
So to be a young, American guy; to get an opportunity to drive with this type of group, it's everything you could ask for. It's everything you could dream of. And I'm sure that's going to resonate well with some people. I don't know how much that moves the needle or not. I'm not the right guy to ask that.
But I think, yeah, I think for sure, you know, there's a lot of things that are going to help move the needle in IndyCar Racing, and I think you've already seen a lot of them. I think we are on a good trajectory right now and there's a lot of excitement within the sport and what we are doing with IndyCar Racing. I hope to add to that.
Winning races is all I care about. It's my focus for the team and trying to help them win championships and the Indy 500 and I think if there's people that are interested in an American doing that and Team Penske, maybe it will help the cause. But I don't know if that's the whole equation.
Q. I know it's probably premature, but could you give a status update on Helio Castroneves?
TIM CINDRIC: That's a broad question. He's down there trying to fight the hurricane today. If you're asking about our driver lineup for next year, this is the only change.
So yeah, he's a guy that as I've said before, he's been a big part of our team. When you look at the definition of kind of team work and leading by example on and off the track, he's certainly done that. He's a guy that, like anybody else, his career is not forever, either. He'll be the first one to tell you that. He's a big part of where we've been.
He and I started with this team at the same time, so certainly a lot of loyalty there and on both fronts.
Q. Everybody gets into racing and they know who Roger Penske is and they know that that name is synonymous with success. Did you ever dream of driving for Roger? Did you ever dream about this or envision this? Did that ever enter your mind?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think for me, I watched everything when I grew up. I saw NASCAR, Formula One, sports car racing, IndyCar racing, numerous Indy 500s on TV. Never really got to the race to see it in person until later on in life.
But you always knew who the Marlboro cars were back in the day and they always had those iconic liveries and they always were well kept and they always were distinct within the field. If I was going to give you the best answer, that's what stands out to me when I was younger, and I always thought, those are the coolest cars out there and I want to drive one of those.
You know, I got into racing actually relatively late. I didn't start racing, truly, until I was 13. So you know, it doesn't date back to me being four or five that I had this dream to drive for this team or that team.
I think the more and more I got immersed into racing and really started trying to learn about it and get my hands around everything and understand where I wanted to be; I think the more respect and history that I learned about Penske Racing and how amazing it would be to be able to drive for an organization like this; it's a huge honor to get this type of opportunity and to be a small piece of it.
So to answer your question, yes, it's probably just in a different way for me. I think my career was a little different in the way it progressed up. It's an honor. I think this place is the American dream, and it's one of the best teams in the world. So it's crazy to be a part of it now.
Q. Just a quickie. Roger likes to get on the phone and talk to drivers. Did he actually get on the phone and offer you the job, and what was your quick response?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You know, I don't think I've talked to Roger on the phone until like 24 hours ago. That was the first time I ever had a phone conversation with Roger, really, which was great.
Really, this team has been so easy to get immersed with, in such a short period of time. I've had a lot of help from Tim in a short amount of time and Roger to try and sort through something and see if it would work and it was a very easy decision to make when it came up. It was a quick process but it was very easy to see this was the direction I wanted to go.
So yeah, to answer your question, I think I've had help from a lot of people, Tim and Roger have just been great to me. I don't know much about them to be honest with you. I'm still learning. We talk about just being here today trying to take everything in; I'm like trying to tread water right now as a young guy. I don't know much about it and I'm trying to learn about everyone. But they have been nothing but gold to me so far. I can't tell you how easy it is to get to know these people and how well they take care of you.
Q. Will Brian and Myron and the rest of the crew pretty much stay the same on the No. 2?
TIM CINDRIC: I don't think our off‑season will be any different than in the past. We'll sit down and consider all that stuff in the off‑season. We'll have plenty of time after this testing. So you know, certainly a believer in continuity to whatever extent makes sense. But we'll evaluate things in the off‑season like we always do.
So I guess nothing is etched in stone. But there haven't been any decisions made to make any changes, so I don't know if that really answers your question. But first thing we need to get in place was who is going to drive the car, and then we'll go these next couple tests, and really after next week, we don't run for, really, probably until next year.
So we've got a lot of time to think about it and try and understand what's the best way forward.
Q. I know loyalty is a big part of who you are and you've been with Ed and Sarah and that group for a long time. Was there anybody, drivers, anybody else within the sport, that you sought for counsel to help you make this decision?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I think you're always assessing things. You're always talking to people that you're close to. And for me, it wasn't a matter of, you know, this team, that team.
I think for me it came down to: Do you ever want to do something different than what you're doing currently, and if you do, is that the right or wrong decision.
I think it would have been very easy for me to continue with ECR and have a lot of success and be very comfortable, and just have a great team behind me.
But for me, it came down to trying to make a decision if I wanted to try something different, and specifically, doing that while I was young still in my career. If you're given that opportunity, do you want to take it? That for me was the hardest part.
And there's a couple people that were close to me that I tried to bounce things off of and figure out if that was the right thing to do. I don't want to get into who they were, but yeah, you always have people that are close to you that try and help you try to sort things mentally.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, everybody, for calling in. FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...
Nice conference call this morning ... Josef Newgarden mentioned dreams but was not overly dreamy. Always focused.
American Driver, American Team ... American Dream. ... notes from The EDJE
TAGS:Josef Newgarden, Penske Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Tim Cindric, Sonoma Raceway, Alexander Rossi, INDY 500, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, The EDJE, ECR, Roger Penske,
