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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Juan Pablo Montoya - Arrow McLaren SP

Josef Newgarden - Penske Racing

Press Conference - Post IMS Practice Day #2

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

How was your day today, Juan Pablo?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Are you driving?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions.

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

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

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

Q. What about an extra hundred horsepower?

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

Q. Josef, how was the Chevy today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q. Any restaurant recommendations for Nashville?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q. When you tested these configurations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We'll continue with Josef Newgarden.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Josef Newgarden.

[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

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

This Field Is Close!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ENDS

... notes from The EDJE

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

Meyer Shank Racing Taps Helio Castroneves For Partial 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season

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.

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: Meyer Shank Racing, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Helio Castroneves, Jack Harvey, 6 race, 2021, INDY 500, Honda, HPD, The EDJE

Down Under & Down Home With Will Power At The End Of 2018 IndyCar Season

Australian IndyCar driver, Will Power, on his 12 years in the Verizon IndyCar Series - "When you look at the field, every single driver on that board can win a race in the right situation. The competition is tougher because everyone gets more accustomed to the cars and tracks and the whole system, and it's great to be involved with it. It really is. It's great to be a part of that competition and create a situation where these drivers become household names, as they should." Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2018)

Down Under & Down Home With Will Power At The End Of 2018 IndyCar Season

Could anything in racing top Will Power’s emotional 2018 Indianapolis 500 victory last May?

Probably not, says Team Penske’s ace, the Australian-born driver who battled his inner demons to overcome self-doubts that he could ever win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” at the unforgiving Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But despite the triumph, don’t for a moment think Power is finished with business at IMS – he badly wants to add another 500 win to his resume before giving any thought to retirement.

“Oh, man, the 500 is the coolest thing I have won, something I’ve been working so hard on for so long,” said the 37-year-old Power, who will begin his 11th year at Penske in the 2019 IndyCar Series season. “To finally get it, it was so, so good. But I want to win it again – the 500 and the series championship – before I retire.”

Power visited Penske Corp. headquarters on Tuesday with the Borg-Warner Trophy to meet with Penske staff and sign autographs. Power spent several hours on his feet in the Penske boardroom before taking a seat to chat with IndyCar.com.

On his victory at Indy, Power, the 2014 IndyCar Series champion, admitted it still stirs his soul.

“At the end of the day, I had built it up so big in my mind,” said Power of his struggles to win the 500. “You start to wonder, ‘Will I ever do it?’ It had been so elusive, so hard to crack. But, it just turned out to be a perfect day of execution. I had a fast car. I knew I was going to get there. We simply were the quickest out there that day and no one was going to get me once we had clear air.”

While Power, who has recorded 35 series victories, said Tuesday “I don’t think you’ll ever top your first 500 win,” he won’t rest on his laurels.

“You pinch yourself after winning your first 500,” said Power. “It is such an epic event. There is nothing like it. It is the greatest trophy to win in sports. But, man, I want another one.”

An accomplished triathlete, Power is one of the sport’s fittest drivers. Last weekend, he took first in his age group in a triathlon held on Lake Norman, near Charlotte, N.C.

“Not a big deal, really,” said Power, who raced against 250 competitors. “Not doing anything too crazy (about his offseason plans). Just relaxing for a couple months before the preseason begins; then straight back into it.”

Power knows driving for a second series championship and a second Indianapolis 500 victory in 2019 will be extraordinarily tough. As well as having to beat out Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud, Power, who finished third in points this year, must contend with 2018 series champion Scott Dixon, series runner-up Alexander Rossi and a growing list of fast youngsters.

“The talent of the young guys coming in is exceptional,” said Power, who pilots the No. 12 Verizon Dallara/Chevrolet. “It’s just a tough field, top to bottom. But I love it; it’s the way it should be.”

It won’t get any tougher than on Belle Isle May 31-June 2 next year, when the Motor City hosts the 2019 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear, the sole doubleheader IndyCar Series race weekend on the calendar.

The 2.3-mile Belle Isle street course is wickedly tough on drivers and equipment and two races in two days can be bone-jarring and energy-sapping.

“It is very grueling,” said Power, a two-time Belle Isle winner. “But I really enjoy it – being in Roger Penske’s and Chevrolet’s backyard.”

This past season, Power won three races and claimed four poles.

“We were super-fast everywhere we went,” said Power. “Yes, we were frustrated at times – two mechanical failures, radio issues and me making several mistakes – but the 500-win trumped everything, so it doesn’t matter. It was just the way it was.”

Power said he continues to be happy with the new-for-2018 IndyCar and its universal aero package.

“The car looks great, races better, way better on road courses, and is nimble and fun to drive,” said Power. “Obviously, there will be some little tweaks here and there, but the series has kind of ticked the boxes they needed to. They put the car in the drivers’ hands.”

Renewing rivalry with five-time IndyCar champion Dixon will spur Power on in 2019, he said.

“It’s pretty cool to compete against a driver like Scott who is getting up there in records with A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti,” he said. “It makes this sort of a golden era of racing to race one of the greats like Scott. It’s good for the future of INDYCAR.”
(ht: Mike Brudenell via IndyCar.com)

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Will Power, Team Penske, Indy 500, Toowoomba, Australia, Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, The EDJE

Josef Newgarden And Team Penske - American Dream Becomes Reality

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,