Rites Of Spring 2023 Open Up For Three Classes Of IMSA At Long Beach Grand Prix

GTD PRO and GTD class cars as they enter Turn 6 onto Turn 7 and Turn 8 section along Pine Avenue after the short chute straightaway next to the Carousel at the Pike Outlets during the 47th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach. This section may become one of the more critical sections given GTD platform racecraft dynamics of having to compete with a totally new Prototype Hybrid car weaving itself through your race. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Rites Of Spring 2023 Open Up For Three Classes Of IMSA At Long Beach Grand Prix

One week before the cars and teams competing in the 48th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach need to be placed in the paddock next to Shoreline Drive, four drivers from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), GT Daytona (GTD), and GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class designations participated in a ZOOM Call conference with members of the Press.

This street race scheduled to be run for a 100 minute sprint on the famed Long Beach 1.968 mile course (or 73 laps as attained in 2022). The previous two races run this season were endurance races run in Florida - Race 1, Rolex 24 At Daytona and Race 2, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring - comprised 36 hours of timed racing ... a different kettle of fish especially since all 5 classes were represented.

To be clear, as it relates to the performance type of cars competing within the concrete canyons of the street circuit that is Long Beach, the GTD and GTD PRO class cars are set up through the same specifications and BoP (balance of power) applications in the rules. 

In terms of information and anticipated track activity throughout the sprint race, there are two functional classes with the GTP (prototype) being the most dynamic and high-powered racing sport cars beginning here in 2023 using a two power plant hybrid (ICE & Electric) propulsion against the GTD cars with minor changes governing the ICE (internal combustion engine) powered sports cars over last year.

Zoom Media Interview - Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Driver Preview

GTP class

Renger van der Zande, co-driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R

Ricky Taylor, co-driver of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06

GTD PRO class

Jordan Taylor, co-driver of the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R GTD

GTD class

Bill Auberlen, co-driver of the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3

- here is what transpired in total.

A total of 28 cars are entered in the three competing classes: eight in GTP, five in GTD PRO and 15 in GTD. Practice and qualifying take place Friday, April 14. The race airs live on USA Network and IMSA Radio at 2 p.m. PT Saturday, April 15.

Storylines

• Spectacular GTP Season Continues: The new Grand Touring Prototype class that debuted this year, featuring hybrid-electrified entries from four manufacturers, enters Long Beach with two races under its belt. Thus far, Acura and Cadillac have each won one race with BMW and Porsche in hot pursuit. Cadillac is seeking to continue a run that has seen it win the past five Long Beach races overall and in the top prototype class.
• The Long and Short of It: After opening the season with the two longest races of the year (Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring), the WeatherTech Championship shifts gears to the shortest race on the schedule – just 100 minutes at Long Beach. How will teams and drivers adapt to a true sprint race?
• Sprint Cup Season Commences: The Long Beach race also serves as the first of seven events that make up the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup for the GTD class. Points earned in these non-endurance races count toward both the overall season championship and the Sprint Cup crown.
• Once, Twice, Three Times a Winner? Paul Miller Racing and co-drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow are seeking a rare three-peat of Long Beach victories in the GTD class. They won in 2021 driving a Lamborghini Huracán and last year in a BMW M4 GT3. The team is also fresh off a victory last month at Sebring.

Who’s Hot?

• GTD PRO Mercedes and Lexus: Only two teams have finished on the podium in the first two races of 2023, and both compete in the GTD PRO class. The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 topped the class at the Rolex 24 and finished third at Sebring. The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 placed third at Daytona and second at Sebring.
• Inception Racing: Embarking on its first full-season GTD effort, the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 hasn’t won yet this season but successive finishes of third and fourth have put drivers Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff in the class points lead heading into Long Beach.

Who’s Good Here?

• Cadillac and Action Express: The manufacturer rides a five-race Long Beach prototype winning streak into race weekend. Three of those (2018, ’19 and ’21) came via Action Express Racing, whose No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R also took the GTP and overall victory last month at Sebring. Co-drivers Alexander Sims and Pipo Derani are the GTP championship leaders after two races.
• Taylor Brothers: Jordan and Ricky Taylor teamed to win three consecutive Long Beach races from 2015-17 in the Prototype class when they drove for their father’s team, but neither has added a victory since. Ricky co-pilots the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP with Filipe Albuquerque this year, with Jordan sharing the No. 3 Corvette C8.R GTD with Antonio Garcia in GTD PRO.

Motorsports Journal's Edmund Jenks was curious about the dynamics of having a totally new Prototype car to be racing with these previous two endurance races and how this may work out at Long Beach.

Motorsports Journal: Have you noticed any difference with the new hybrid GTP cars with the way they race around you or approach you, compared to the DPi prototypes in previous seasons?

Jordan Taylor - No. 3 Corvette Racing/Mobil 1 (Corvette C8.R GTD): It’s much different. The way they make speed seems different. They come by you a bit quicker on the straights and then their cornering speeds – especially in the medium-speed corners – is quite a bit lower than back in the DPi days. At Sebring, I had a BMW come by me and it must have been on a double-stint on the tires. It passed me into 15 and was so slow at apex that I was actually able to drive back around him. It’s a much different car, it seems, for them to learn and adapt to. It makes the style of racing a bit different because now in GT, we know that they struggle on second-stint tires and it will put us in a position to probably want to be a little more defensive in those sorts of spots to not lose laptime when they go by us. It’s definitely a learning process. They come by you a lot quicker in the straights like at Daytona before the Kink and out of the Kink. They’d arrive much quicker and when you wouldn’t expect it from years past in a DPi. When we go to different tracks, it’s going to be learning where those places are, and where they can get by us and where they can’t compared to what it was like back in DPi.

Bill Auberlen - No. 97 Turner Motorsport McIntosh (BMW M4 GT3): They (GTP cars) are so slow in the corners. I was very surprised. The old cars (DPi) used to corner like they were on rails, and would go around you in the middle of corners and put you in a bad position. Now they (GTP cars) never pass you in corners because they have their hands full as it is. When they’re on a second stint with the tires, they’re slower than us in the corners and hold us up. They go blasting by you on the straights where you want them to pass, but once you get past the brake zone they tuck in behind you and wait until the next straight to blast by you again. It makes them a lot easier to interact with (than previous DPi prototypes).

Renger van der Zande - No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac Racing V-Series.R: I feel it’s hard to overtake. The speeds are higher but we have to brake a bit earlier and the weight is higher as well. The minimum speed [in the corner] is quite a lot lower so you cannot really rely on. Let’s break super late and dive bomb someone. I think if you dive bomb someone you’re going straight ... you’re going to miss the corner. I think with the DPi you could actually overtake someone on track because you had a bit more downforce, you had a bit more minimum speed and grip to get away with a mistake. With these cars, it seems like if you try to outbrake, you actually are going outbrake yourself and going off the track, so you have to be a bit more careful.

Ricky Taylor - No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06: It is nice to be able to clear everybody in the straight, although the closing speed is so high that there becomes a level of commitment when you’re going down the straight and [the GT cars] are in their own battle. You have to pick a side to go, and especially when there are Ams [Amateurs] in the car ... do they see you, do they not … you’re trying to read body language from a much further distance and then commit to one side, because the penalty of picking the wrong side and having to lift and and move across is actually higher. (From Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport website: Starting the sprint race portion of the season is exciting. We get to go to another new track with the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, so it will be interesting how the new GTP cars adapt to the first street course of the year. Being the shortest race of the year, we can transition our energy from purely reliability to hopefully a bit more risk-taking for Acura’s home race in Long Beach.)

ENDS

After racing in the two longest events on the calendar at Daytona and Sebring, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has something entirely different coming up next weekend. The Long Beach race is notoriously difficult and hard on cars with the 100-minute sprint race length where the dynamics between the new GTP platform and the GTD platform may decide just who wins their class by end-of-day Saturday at the 48th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach rites of spring motorsports event.

... notes from The EDJE

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TAGS: 2023. 48th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Long Beach Grand Prix, IMSA, GTP, GTD PRO, GTD, Corvette Racing, Cadillac Racing, WTRAndretti, Auberlen, Taylor, van der Zande, The EDJE

VP Racing And IMSA Collaborate On New Renewable Fuel For 2023 Season

VP Racing Fuels as they set up to provide the liquid energy used to move racing platforms around the famed track at Daytona during the Rolex 24. Image Credit: VP Racing Fuels (2021)

VP Racing And IMSA Collaborate On New Renewable Fuel For 2023 Season

James McVey - International Sales Manager and Sales Consultant at VP Racing Fuels - San Antonio, TX 

VP Racing Fuels, Inc., the global leader in performance fuels, lubricants, and additives, officially announces that their newly engineered R80 renewable fuel is now powering IMSA’s GTP class throughout the 2023 season, starting at the Rolex 24 in Daytona last month.

"VP Racing is excited to be the official fuel for the new IMSA GTP class with our new R80 renewable fuel," said Bruce Hendel, Senior Vice President - Global Sales for VP. "We worked closely with IMSA and the OEMs to develop and deliver a new 80% renewable fuel, and now it is racetrack proven." continued Hendel. "With over 80 specially engineered fuels, VP continues to be at the forefront of performance and race fuel development, now and for the future."

GTP/LMDh Class field is filled with cars produced by four manufacturers. From left to right - ACURA ARX-06 LMDh - Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, Cadillac V-LMDh - Action Express Racing, BMW M Hybrid V8 - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL), Cadillac V-LMDh - Porsche 963 - Porsche Penske Motorsport. Image Credit: IMSA (2023)

Through close collaboration with IMSA and the OEMs, VP Racing engineered R80 specifically for the GTP class to deliver sustainability with performance. To ensure the highest quality components are used, VP globally sourced advanced renewable components used in the R80 formulation. This environmentally friendly, sustainable fuel will help reduce emissions and give the world-class performance expected of a VP fuel. Specific R80 features include ...

** A fuel formulated with 64% Gen 2 non-food biomass

** At or more than 55% reduction in CO2 versus previous fuels

** All the performance needed is track-proven at the Rolex 24

R80 did indeed perform and impress the race teams as they experienced this new generation of fuel and racing. "There is a really cool renewable fuel in this car," said David Salters, President of Honda Performance Development. "It’s great because it’s a new thing. We are cutting edge."

"Sustainability is one of the pillars of our new GTP class," said IMSA Senior Vice President, Marketing and Business Operations David Pettit. "As our technical team developed plans for the next generation of our top prototype class, it quickly became clear that renewable fuels and hybrid technology were vital to earning commitments from our manufacturers to participate. We are proud to partner with VP Racing on the introduction of R80 and are committed to building toward 100 percent renewable fuel in the future."

GTP sports cars use a single-source hybrid powertrain and will run exclusively on renewable R80 fuel.

For more information about VP Racing Fuels and its products for racers, enthusiasts, and general consumers, visit www.vpracingfuels.com.

... notes from The EDJE

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TAGS: VP Racing Fuels, IMSA, GTP, LMDh, Class, R80, renewable fuel, Gen 2 non-food biomass, hybrid powertrain, The EDJE

More Equals Less In Upcoming GTP Championship Season

Fruits of developments between Porsche and Penske Motorsports were shown at AutoMobility LA 2022 (LA Auto Show Press Day). This will be the fourth manufacturer to join in the IMSA Series LMDh Class for 2023. This union is the second introduction by Penske Motorsport to the highest level of prototype competition, the first being the championship winning Acura - ARX–05.  Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

More Equals Less In Upcoming GTP Championship Season

Last year, NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Will Power showed the world how a less equals more strategy can deliver a season series championship win (his career second). The WeatherTech GTP Class championship, however, has settled on a more equals less strategy to deliver a hybrid technology answer (more) to the reduction of carbon emissions (less) in a major professional motorsports competition series championship.

In a first of the new year ZOOM Call put on by IMSA, with the participants from teams representing the four major automotive manufacturers who will be competing in the 2023 GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series - Cadillac, Acura, BMW, and Porsche - most all of the technical team leaders expressed a few common themes.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class ZOOM Call participants - Left To Right In ZOOM Call Images:

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing

Travis Hogue, Acura Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport

Jonathan Diuguid, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Mike O'Gara, Cadillac Racing (CGR)

Justin Harnisfager, Acura Meyer Shank Racing

Brandon Fry, BMW M Team RLL

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP Class Teams ZOOM Call Part 1

IMSA 101 - DPi cars are being replaced by LMDh cars for 2023 >>> an LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a type of sports prototype race car that will compete alongside Le Mans Hypercar entries in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023 - it also competes in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The LMDh ruleset was created jointly by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The cars will serve as the successor to the Daytona Prototype International class, utilizing regulations that were planned to become the next-generation Daytona Prototype International ruleset, converged with the Le Mans Hypercar ruleset, showing off the latest technology in mating traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) with electrification (Hybrid Technology) - tap for more.

[ht: WIKI/IMSA]

In addition to having to integrate hybrid electric power units to the ICE power units (internal combustion engine) one has to consider what additional impacts will this have on a team as it prepares at the team shop environment, travel, and set-up at a track for testing and competition. 

Action Express Racing's Whelen Engineering sponsored GTP Cadillac. Image Credit: Mike Levitt (2022)

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing, was keen to point out that in previous DPi rules configuration, the team could just load up the car, parts, toolboxes and other support gear in one transporter. Here in the LMDh rules configuration, this will require two full transporters and a trailing 5th wheel trailer. 

We’re on the threshold of a thrilling new era in endurance sports car racing and Cadillac is all in! Cadillac Racing will contest the top category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with its V-LMDh prototype race cars as the only U.S.-based manufacturer. The 2023 sports car racing season gets underway with the Daytona Roar (January 20-22, 2023) and Rolex 24 at Daytona (January 28-29, 2023). The first event on the WEC calendar is the 1,000 miles of Sebring, on March 17th. I encourage anyone inclined to enjoy any of the 2023 IMSA or WEC races in person to buy your tickets and make your travel arrangements now! #BeIconic @cadillac @CadillacRacing #IMSA @imsa_racing #ctmp @fiawec_official #fiawec @fiawec #richardprincephotography @richardprincephoto

Jonathan Diuguid (pronounced Do-gid), Porsche Penske Motorsport ended Part 1 with the one element to this racing equation that, in the beginning of any season is on the more side, tire compound choices that will deliver the fastest times with longer runs - less pit stops with less time involved with the completion of each lap.

Motorsports Journal/EVHNews was able to ask questions from Brandon Fry of RLL about how the new RLL HQ helps the BMW GTP  Class effort & Jonathan Diuguid about working with a manufacturer to introduce a racing effort to this level of championship racing series - first Acura, and now Porsche - these questions begin this next Part 2 video.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP Class Teams ZOOM Call Part 2

<<< Again - Left To Right In ZOOM Call Images >>>

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing

Travis Hogue, Acura Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport

Jonathan Diuguid, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Mike O'Gara, Cadillac Racing (CGR)

Justin Harnisfager, Acura Meyer Shank Racing

Brandon Fry, BMW M Team RLL

Join us on our ROAD TO DAYTONA for insights into the BMW M Hybrid V8 project.

Episode 2: Tested in all conditions.

Sound on!#bmwmhybridv8 @IMSA @RLLracing pic.twitter.com/EUMQd7ymrn

— BMW Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) January 5, 2023

Major concerns that are common with all teams and manufacturers as it relates to the level of confidence in the unknowns. Unknowns all track back to reliability during race day activities. As always, when something is new, one has no real idea if all of the bits, pieces, and tasked function parts will hold up to endurance race stresses and conditions. This is why we all push the limits of technology and application, this is why we race ... isn't it?

... notes from The EDJE

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TAGS: WeatherTech, SportCar, IMSA, GTP, LMDh, BMW, Porsche, Acura, Cadillac, ICE. Hybrid EV, Le Mans, Daytona, 2023, The EDJE

IMSA DPi Cadillac's Westbrook, Derani, & ACURA's Albuquerque Share Thoughts On Race 03 At Long Beach Streets

Wayne Taylor Racing's No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 Acura DPi at the apex of the famed passing turn at the end of the Seaside Straight, Firestone Turn 9. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)

IMSA DPi Cadillac's Westbrook, Derani, & ACURA's Albuquerque Share Thoughts On Race 03 At Long Beach Streets

A ZOOM Call interview was held on March 29 with select DPi drivers to preview the third race of the season held on the temporary street course at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 8-9, 2022.

The 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit encircles the Long Beach Convention Center and runs down scenic Shoreline Drive. It offers numerous overtaking opportunities, including Turn 1 (Toyota) - Turn 6 (Tecate Turn) - Turn 8 - Turn 9 (Firestone) - but getting the hairpin Turn 11, just before the frontstretch, right is critical as this sets up Turn 1.

Richard Westbrook, co-driver of the No. 5 JDC Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R, Pipo Derani, co-driver of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, and Filipe Albuquerque, co-driver of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 Acura DPi remain excited over competing through the concrete canyons on the shores of the Pacific Ocean during Southern California's primary rites-of-spring event.

CADILLAC RACING LONG BEACH PREVIEW: ZOOM TRANSCRIPT

In advance of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race April 9 on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit in Long Beach, California, Pipo Derani (No.31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) -- who co-drove to the 2021 victory to lead a Cadillac sweep of the podium -- and Richard Westbrook (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R), co-driver of the DPi championship points-leading team, met with the media March 29 via Zoom conference.

RICHARD WESTBROOK (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R):

THE MUSTANG SAMPLING COLORS HAVE WON AT LONG BEACH, BUT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR YOUR FIRST WIN THERE. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO BRING IT HOME FOR YOU AND TRISTAN VAUTIER?

“It’s going to be incredibly tough, obviously. Going into the third round that starts off at Daytona, a completely different circuit, and then the polar opposite going to Sebring and then completely different yet again going to Long Beach. I feel like every time I’m going to a new track with this car – the track I know but it’s the first time in this car – it’s almost like I’ve never been there before because the car is so different than a GT and the last time I raced in prototype. It’s a massive learning curve, but there’s a lot you can take from Sebring to Long Beach setup-wise and we obviously had a good car there. I’m quietly confident and just really pleased to get the 36 hours of Florida out of the way because that was my target – to get through those two events and get some decent points on the board, learn as much as I can, try to fit into the team as best I can and get myself a platform for the short-race season. That’s what we’ve done. To come out of those two rounds with leading the championship, I sort of have to pinch myself. Obviously, it’s early days and lots of race to go, but we’ve given ourselves a good platform. I’m looking forward to Long Beach, but a completely different challenge.”

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING ON A STREET CIRCUIT WITH A SHORT RACE?

“Street circuit qualifying is nuts. You have to sort of go to places that you don’t really want to go to in practice. You have to step out for sure and take the car past its limit in some way. I prefer to be finishing that race.”

QUESTION FROM MOTORSPORTS JOURNAL >>>

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SECTION OF THE LONG BEACH TRACK AND WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GAINING FROM THAT SECTION?

“I guess the last two corners because when you have sections of circuits where you can give up a little bit to have a good run through the last corners – where you can sacrifice a bit to gain something somewhere else. That whole last section where you’ve got the right and then the long left and then the final hairpin, you can go quicker in one but you’re going to have to sacrifice in the next. It’s sort of connecting the three and I like that sort of challenge in any circuit. We turn up for the first practice at 9 o’clock in the morning and it’s kind of a meaningless session because you’re just cleaning the circuit and the track just evolves, evolves and it’s a completely different circuit come race day. I remember that race day is normally quicker (lap times) than qualifying because the track just continues to evolve. You have to be ready for that. You sort of have to adapt yourself. You can’t go into each session with the mindset that ‘I need to improve in that corner, maybe I’ll try that.’ The track next session is completely different, so you have to be open-minded in how you set out to work. I’ve never won at Long Beach, so it's about time I did.”

ENDS

IS THIS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET MORE IN TUNE WITH YOUR NEW TEAMMATE?

“When you get a new teammate, the first few races you’re sort of working out what does he like to eat, where are we going to have dinner tonight. It’s getting used to all that stuff. The chemistry with Tristan (Vautier) and Loic (Duval) has been really strong. We’re definitely working toward the same goal in terms of setup on the car; we like a similar setup. For me, it’s only going to get stronger. I can’t say enough about Tristan. I’ve been super pleased with how he performs, and his one-lap pace is incredible. Hopefully, he puts that to good use all year.”

PIPO DERANI (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R):

FOND MEMORIES OF LONG BEACH LAST YEAR. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO REPEAT WITH YOUR NEW TEAMMATE TRISTAN NUNEZ?

“Long Beach last year was definitely a key moment in our championship. It was a fantastic race because the year before we almost won the race; in the end we wound up losing the wheel after leading the race up to the last pit stop. To capitalize last year and make sure we win that one when it slipped away the year before was great. Long Beach is a great track to drive. The event is a fantastic together with INDYCAR to have a lot of fans around. A street track is always challenging to be so close to the walls. It’s going to be again a very challenging and a very tight field and difficult race to win as usual in IMSA. Our Cadillac DPi runs really well at that track. Looking forward to it with a new teammate Tristan (Nunez). He’s driven there before and hopefully he’ll hit the ground running with the Cadillac. After two races under his belt, he’s getting more used to the Cadillac DPi. I’m looking forward to heading west and having our two races there at Long Beach and then later at Monterrey.”

YOU CAME BACK LAST YEAR TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER A ROUGH START. DO YOU HAVE A PHILOSOPHY ABOUT IT OR ARE YOU EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT?

“I think last year was a little bit chaotic in the beginning for us. I’d like to think this year has started much smoother than last year. Last year, we had a gearbox problem at Daytona, a horrible Sebring and we made our lives very difficult toward the end of the season to win the championship the way we did. I think we won the championship by 11 points, so it was really tight and difficult to overcome the difficult beginning. This year, not ideal to finish fourth at Daytona, but getting our first podium at Sebring I think we are much closer to the championship leaders than we were last year. Of course, we would like to be further up. There’s no philosophy in starting slow and trying to finish strong. I think a championship is built not only on the second half of the season but trying to make sure you get the points early on as well. The championship is so strong; we had a really strong race at Daytona this year and came up short at the end when it counted. We didn’t quite have the pace in the last 30 minutes and there were three cars that were stronger than us that finished ahead of us. In a championship, we try to maximize points when we can. If we can’t win, then take second or third or even fourth. I think we’re within 30 or 40 points from the lead so better than last year. Hopefully, it’s a good beginning to be stronger toward the rest of the championship.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES TO HAVING THREE DIFFERENT SETUPS FOR THE FIRST THREE RACES?

“It shows the diversity of the championship. You go from Daytona – very big track – to Sebring – very bumpy track – and then to a street track in California. I think it brings something to the championship and for the teams to adapt quickly to these changes. They are great tracks to drive; each have their own peculiarity. Daytona being the beginning of the season and so many long straights and then going to Sebring, a track that was so strong for Cadillac. You have a brand like Acura that dominated at Daytona and then Cadillac dominating at Sebring. And now going into Long Beach – a track that has been quite even between the two manufacturers over the last few years. We got pole position last year and won the race. It’s great to have such a great combination of tracks where you have to keep yourself and your team on your toes and do the best job possible to stay ahead.”

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING ON A STREET CIRCUIT WITH A SHORT RACE?

“It’s a track that is hard to pass. Also, you can get a little bit lucky because you see others making mistakes, hitting the walls and eventually you can be a little bit lucky with a yellow, but you don’t want to count on that at all. In an hour, 40-minute race, I think you need to maximize your chances and that starts with qualifying. That’s the beauty of the sport; you have to put it together early and hope that the race stays green.”

WHAT MAKES THE CADILLAC SUCH A GOOD CAR AT LONG BEACH?

“I think Cadillac has shown to be very good when the track is bumpy. Not last year, but the year before Acura qualified on pole with a Penske car and I think they had the pace to win just like we did. Last year, it seemed like we had some advantage over the Wayne Taylor car and the Shank car, but they seemed to have stepped up this year in terms of performance, so I’m expecting a close fight. But the Cadillac is a fantastic car over the bumps. We saw that at Sebring. It’s a car that copes well with a bump track and normally street tracks tend to be a little bit more bumpy than a normal track. I think this is one of the strong points of our Cadillac DPi and hopefully we can use that to our advantage over the race weekend at Long Beach.”

QUESTION FROM MOTORSPORTS JOURNAL >>>

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SECTION OF THE LONG BEACH TRACK AND WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GAINING FROM THAT SECTION?

“A fun part of Long Beach is the roundabout where it’s quite tight, it’s interesting how you have to go around the roundabout but at the same time try to clip a little bit of the curb. You have nice pictures there; sometimes it looks as if the car is on top of the grass.”

ENDS

IS THIS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET MORE IN TUNE WITH YOUR NEW TEAMMATE?

“I think it’s been a learning curve after three years with Felipe (Nasr) when you get to learn and understand each other so well. Having Tristan (Nunez) come on board this year has been refreshing. It’s been two races where Tristan has allowed himself to adapt to the team. It’s always good to have Daytona and Sebring as the first two races of the season because you have so much track time and you have time to find all those details you need for a good relationship with your teammate. It’s not easy to just step into DPi with the car that just won the championship to perform at the highest level, but so far he's doing a fantastic job. I think we’re heading into a different type of race of the championship that is much shorter and I’m sure he’s going to do really well. We’ll continue to develop this relationship and hopefully bring some wins to the team and bring another championship.”

No Transcript As Yet For >>>

Filipe Albuquerque, co-driver of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 Acura DPi

QUESTION FROM MOTORSPORTS JOURNAL >>>

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SECTION OF THE LONG BEACH TRACK AND WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GAINING FROM THAT SECTION?

Answer Spooled Up In Video Above >>>

ENDS

... notes from The EDJE


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TAGS: IMSA, DPi, Cadillac, ACURA, No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura, No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, Westbrook, Derani, Albuquerque, The EDJE

House Of Penske Dominates Race Two And First Oval Of The 2022 Season

 

Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden nips teammate and NTT P1 Pole Award winner Scott McLaughlin at the Start/Finish Line by 0.0669 after 277 Laps on a last corner pass in the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022)

House Of Penske Dominates Race Two And First Oval Of The 2022 Season

It's early in the season where we have had the season-opener on the street course in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida and this weekend's high-speed banked oval at Texas Motor Speedway near Ft, Worth, Texas.

To those who have been paying attention to the opening races in North American professional motorsports at the highest levels, Team Penske has been on quite a roll. If one were to add machinery and drivers who were formally directly associated with Team Penske, the start of the 2022 season for the "House Of Penske" is quite astounding.

To review, the first race of the IMSA DPi season - the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona - was won by an ACURA that was first introduced to this class of sportscar racing and sold to Meyer Shank Racing driven by two past driving members of Team Penske, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud.

The first non-points paying race of the NASCAR Cup Series season - BUSCH Light Clash at the Coliseum - was won by Team Penske's Joey Logano. Further, the first points paying race of the 2022 season - the Daytona 500 - was won on the 85th birthday of his car owner, Roger Penske, by 23-year-old NASCAR Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric. Cindric beat Bubba Wallace to the finish line by .036 seconds in overtime to win Sunday’s 64th running of the Daytona 500.

The first race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season - Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - was won by Team Penske second year driver, New Zealander Scott McLaughlin who won his first race for this INDYCAR team.

Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden celebrates by pulling the triggers on the six shooter pistols, one in each hand, in victory lane after winning the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL 375 race at Texas Motor Speedway. Said Newgarden, of the win performed on the last corner before the Start/Finish Line, "I just went for it. He [teammate Scott McLaughlin] didn't do anything wrong, up on traffic, getting loose. I was a little stronger than him at the end for sure. It would be unwise, it actually shows his wisdom. It would have been very unwise for him to take a flyer and go high side without knowing what's going to happen. He won the first race, leading the championship. That would have been silly for him to do that decision. For me it was a risk but I think it was somewhat calculated. I saw people going up there toward the beginning and middle of the race. I took a calculated risk and it worked out."  Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022)

The second race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season - XPEL 375 - was expected to be very hotly contested, and this race did not disappoint. 

Much of the early buzz surrounded the fact that NASCAR standout veteran and second year driver for Chip Ganassi Racing Jimmie Johnson was finally going to be in his element. During his NASCAR career, Johnson won seven of his thirty-five starts in each 500 mile race performed at Texas Motor Speedway. This race was only going to be a contested length of 248 circuits/375 miles - only 3/4ths of the length of a NASCAR event.

J.R. Hildebrand had just signed on with A.J. Foyt Racing (AJFR) to be the oval race specialist in the car normally driven by Rookie driver, Colombian Tatiana Calderón. He competed in 11 straight INDY 500 races and was brought on to lend some valuable experience in coaching two rookie drivers (the other Rookie being Indy Lights Champion , Floridian Kyle Kirkwood) and assist with second year AJFR driver, Canadian Dalton Kellett, as well as run all of the ovals on the 2022 schedule.

A 27 car count field had fans excited about the prospect of this race. In recent years, having 19, 20 , 21, or 22 cars seemed about the norm for most INDYCAR competitors taking to the track - not being a race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the INDY 500. This has been growing through the refinements and maturity of the DW12 racing platform and aero-dynamics, with this racing season becoming the most robust car count racing seasons in years.

RESULTS >>>

This excerpted and edited from Racer - 

PRUETT: IndyCar had empty stands at Texas - Here’s why it's worth the investment

By: Marshall Pruett - March 20, 2022 10:53pm ET

The best thing to come from Sunday’s IndyCar race is the fact that, after a fun race with more passing than we’ve seen in years, IndyCar has something to fight for at Texas Motor Speedway.

If the XPEL 375 turned out to be another single-lane stinker where we were stuck with 248 laps of follow-the-leader, I’d be singing the old country song, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over…they say that all good things must end” and rooting for IndyCar to uproot its act from Dallas/Fort Worth and find another oval worthy of its affection.

Thankfully, the constant action near the front, the rising and falling drivers everywhere else and the thriller of a finish — one teammate ripping the heart out of another — made a big and positive impression that wasn’t entirely expected. If only there were more people in the grandstands to have seen Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson, Jimmie Johnson, Santino Ferrucci and the rest of the 27 crazies put on a heck of a show.

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The extra 150 pounds of downforce IndyCar added to its Texas aero specifications and the revised Firestone tires helped drivers to charge harder into and out of the corners, and while the second lane never materialized as anything other than an infrequent option, the competition was fierce. The series has some valuable takeaways to consider; Newgarden thought the extra session run late on Saturday to try and bring the second lane to life served a purpose.

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A highly skilled IndyCar promoter who was in attendance thought the tiny crowd was likely a result of making a big mistake on setting the start time around 11:30 a.m. Most churches don’t let out before noon in the Bible Belt — and if it’s a good sermon it might be 12:30 or 1:00 p.m. before the doors are opened. IndyCar and TMS might have asked a lot of fans to choose between the Good Word and good racing. If that’s true, the grandstands provided the answer on who won that divine contest.

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What I do know is: After the race IndyCar produced, Texas needs to stay on the schedule. But not if it looks like they forgot to open the gates to the damn event. 

As I’ve probably written 50 times in recent years, IndyCar cannot afford to go to venues where it looks small and unimportant, and that’s exactly what we had on Sunday.

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IndyCar needs to intervene and bring its marketing and promotions capabilities to bear. Penske Entertainment is treating its co-promotion of the upcoming Hy-Vee IndyCar Weekend at Iowa like it’s the most important race the world will ever know.

From all the sponsors it has signed to the big music acts Hy-Vee has brought in, it’s clear that when Penske Entertainment wants to go on the attack to make sure people buy tickets to an event it’s in charge of, it will work itself to the point of exhaustion. Unlike Iowa, IndyCar’s annual visit to TMS isn’t a track rental where its promotional efforts are directly tied to making a profit. But maybe it should be treated that way.

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IndyCar drivers and teams risk too much over those 248 laps to play in front of an empty house. They deserve better and so do the faithful who circle this event on the calendar every year and pray for a good race.

Now that they’ve got one that’s worth saving, it’s time for IndyCar to stop pinning its hopes on TMS to deliver a massive crowd and do its part by attacking the problem and getting people in those seats themselves.

[Reference Here]

With the level of success the House Of Penske has had at the many racing series and tracks in North America this year, maybe it is time to flex some of their "other" muscles found at the House Of Penske's Penske Entertainment.

Team Penske driver, who's second in the Championship points, Will Power gives a congratulatory hug to Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden on his last turn pass and win in the XPEL 375. Newgarden moves up to P4 in the season points behind Chip Ganassi Racing driver and 2021 season Champion Alex Palou. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022)

Driver Season Championship Points Here >>>

In summation after looking at the post race 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season driver points chart - impressions:

Pretty eye-opening given that some drivers are doing better than imagined.

Top of the order in points is House Of Penske with Scott McLaughlin @ P1 and Will Power @ P2 (trailing by only 28 points) - the "down-under" twins - both male and both qualify and win a lot. Josef Newgarden for his part @ P4 (32 points behind), notched his 21st career IndyCar victory. Team Penske earned its 600th win across all racing programs.

INDY 500 winner during his first year driving in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has always coveted being a season champion, but has come up short, started this season with an intent that this was going to be the championship breakout year. After only two races in a 17 race season, he finds himself stuck at the starting line. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022)

Colton Herta is highest points for Andretti Autosport at P7 - Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi has only beaten out two extreme Rookies ... so that makes him literally LAST in points.

Jimmie Johnson finished in sixth place in the XPEL 375 for his best IndyCar finish to date. Johnson is racing the full IndyCar schedule for the first time in 2022 after joining the circuit part-time last year. On the year, Jimmie is a surprising P11 ahead of Rahal at P12 and O'Ward at P13.

 

Pre-Race meeting between one-race fill-in driver Santino Ferrucci and second year driver for Chip Ganassi Racing Jimmie Johnson who was able to register more laps of racing at Texas Motor Speedway than any driver in the field due to his seven championship winning NASCAR Cup Series seasons over 18 full-time year career. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens (2022)

Santino Ferrucci with a one-race fill-in for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Jack Harvey, who had an accident during the final practice and due to ACCELEROMETER PROTOCOL was not allowed to take to the track and race, finished the race as the biggest mover - Santino went from dead last @ P27 to P9 in the No. 45 RLL Honda. Due to this performance, Ferrucci has more points @ P20 in the season points stack rankings after two races than ... Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter, Kyle Kirkwood, Jack Harvey, and oval specialist J.R. Hildebrand (who should be the one with the most points of those mentioned before him - yet still has more points than Rossi).

Really a fun 11.7% completion snapshot of an early season before ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach set to run as Race 03 on April 8-10, 2022.

... notes from The EDJE

FEATURED ARTICLE >>> 

TAGS: Texas Motor Speedway, INDYCAR, House Of Penske, IMSA, NASCAR, Car Counts, XPEL 375, The EDJE

The "House Of Penske" Influence Owns Winning To Open 2022 Racing Season

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.

FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETERSBURG START TIMES

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. 

... notes from The EDJE

FEATURED ARTICLE >>>

UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE

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