House Of Penske's Will Power Matches Mario Andretti's Record Established In 1993 At Michigan International Speedway

House Of Penske's Will Power celebrates matching a 29 year old record for NTT P1 Pole Awards earned in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES career. Will Power and his team matched Mario Andretti's mark of 67 Pole Positions earned. Image Credit: Will Power via FB/META

House Of Penske's Will Power Matches Mario Andretti's Record Established In 1993 At Michigan International Speedway

BOOM - Will Power ties Mario Andretti with 67 Pole positions earned in his career - amazing - Mario's last P1 Pole and Will's record equalling P1 Pole were both set on Oval Course Race Tracks.

Will Power earned the 67th pole position of his storied INDYCAR SERIES career – tying the legendary Mario Andretti for the all-time series record that was set lastly in 1993 at the Michigan International Speedway's Marlboro 500  – and captured the NTT P1 Award on Friday afternoon for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway while adding to his slim season championship points lead over Scott Dixon.

Power’s pole wasn’t a surprise, given he already led the series with three poles entering this event and paced practice earlier today at 180.539. Power also won the NTT P1 Award for this race last year at 180.618.

Still, there was nothing routine about his qualifying run in the shadow of the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

Power tried to keep the throttle pedal to the floor in Turns 3 and 4 during his last lap on the tricky oval, and he realized midway through that he needed to downshift to complete the corner without contact. Still, Power deftly kept the car off the SAFER Barrier and delivered the coveted 67th pole.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES FB/META 

Video Posting - Will Power's Qualifications Run >>>

"I’m still shaking," Power said. "There was nothing left on the table – let’s put it that way. The second lap, I was loose in (Turns) 1-2 and then tried to go again as much as I could in (Turns) 3-4."

Power will earn an extra point for the NTT P1 Award, which could come in handy since he leads six-time series champion Scott Dixon by just six points with three races remaining.

Fellow championship contender Marcus Ericsson will join Power on the front row after his qualifying run of 182.070 in the No. 8 Bryant Honda. Ericsson is third in points, 12 behind Power.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference - Friday, August 19, 2022

Will Power | Marcus Ericsson

ZOOM Call Video Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Wrapping up pole qualifying. Now the a reigning Indy 500 champion who almost picked up career pole number one, Marcus Ericsson (indiscernible).

MARCUS ERICSSON: -- of course, you want to get that first pole. Will did a very impressive run in the end. We'll just have to try to get the win tomorrow instead.

THE MODERATOR: Knowing it was Will Power, did you think you still had a shot?

MARCUS ERICSSON: I thought my run was really good, so I thought I had a shot. If there's one guy you don't want to go after you when you're standing on provisional pole, it's definitely Will Power.

Either way, I'm really happy we're on the front row, the car felt so good. The team did a really good effort today to give me such a qualifying car.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. As this season title race is winding down, in oval qualifying, being in a legitimate title race, does that feel any different than it might have (indiscernible).

MARCUS ERICSSON: (Indiscernible) -- that's sort of the mindset I've had all the time. Now going down to the last three, I think I'll do everything I possibly can to try and win this championship.

I knew today in qualifying it was really important because of the way this track races. It's not always easy to overtake. I was very focused going in.

Yeah, I try and do like I've done all year and not change things up. But it is, like you say, in oval qualifying, it's something special. You have those two laps, high speeds, no margin for error. It is quite special to do it. It's a lot of adrenaline that runs through your body.

It's pretty unique, but I really enjoy it. I think it's really fun.

Q. Are we still with three races left too early to feel like you have to run your race off of what people are doing, covering certain drivers? Do you feel you're still able to run your own race?

MARCUS ERICSSON: I think if it was one or two cars fighting for it with three to go, you could start racing that guy. But now we are five or even seven cars fighting for the championship. It's not really possible to cover six other cars.

We need to focus on ourselves tomorrow. We need to try and win the race because we're going to be in a position to fight for that, so that's going to be the goal.

But we know it's tough competition out there. We need to race our race. I think that's important.

Q. If you look all the way back to the inside of row four, that is the points race. Everybody up there are the guys you're battling. To know the proverbial cream has risen to the top in qualifying really makes it look like it's going to be tough to win this thing. How do you look at that?

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I think it shows how competitive this series is. Like you said, all the top guys are up there tomorrow. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough to battle it out, try and beat the guy next to me here. It's going to be very tough.

But we're going to give it our best shot. I think we have three cars up there so we know we have a good package as well. Just try to do our best, race our race, see what we got.

THE MODERATOR: The guy next to you just happened to pick up career pole 67, Will Power. This is his fourth pole here, fourth of the season. A little history perspective: last time we saw an INDYCAR SERIES driver, Will, pick up 67, when Mario did, you go all the way back to August 1st, 1993. It's a mark that has stood for some time.

Watching you celebrate this thing, the smile...

WILL POWER: Yeah, something I've had my eye on for a while. I think when I got to 60, I was like, This could be possible. Yep, it's definitely a big box to tick.

But, yeah, now focusing forward on the race. That's really the big thing on my mind, is having a good day. Yeah, everyone's at the front, so it's just going to be...

It's pretty typical of INDYCAR, right? It's just going to go down to the last race. The way I see it, even on points right now, it's that close, it can just flip. It's going to be about who can finish ahead of who. Simple as that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Will, there's been times you and I have talked, back when you were at 60, 61 poles, you said, I don't know if I'll be able to get there. Did you honestly feel that way? Now that you've reached your goal, is it just a huge sense of relief?

WILL POWER: When I got the double pole at Iowa, that's when it became really realistic. The year before I had one pole. I think the year before that I had three. It was getting increasingly harder to get pole position. I was kind of thinking, This is going to be pretty hard to beat.

But the double pole at Iowa was real key. Yep, great team, great engine, great crew. That's what I've had. I've been lucky.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: No, I'm not feeling any relief because I'm so focused on the race and the championship. I can think about that later and feel good about it. Right now it's just so important to have a good car in the race and race well, yeah, have a solid day.

Q. Marcus, how excited are you to come to St. Louis to compete in a race that means so much here in the city?

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I mean, we've been here a few years now. It's always been a great race, great atmosphere here with the fans.

I always enjoyed coming here from my first year in 2019. I think it's a track that sort of suited my style straightaway. For the ovals, coming from European racing, where you don't do any ovals, I think this is really the first track I got my head around. Been pretty strong here the last few years.

Going into this weekend, I knew that the ovals this year has been something that I've been really strong on, so I was really looking forward to this one. Qualifying on the front row shows we have a strong package for these type of tracks.

Q. And Will?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think this is a really good event for us. It's promoted really well. Always get a big crowd. They do a really good job of presenting it.

It races well also. Can be a bit mixed up with fuel races and so on. Yeah, it's one of my favorite tracks, favorite ovals. I really enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot.

THE MODERATOR: Marcus, congratulations. Have a great race tomorrow.

More questions for Will Power.

Q. You've won the pole at Portland, coming up next. Can 68 happen there?

WILL POWER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, next two races after this, next two qualifying sessions, have to be very good qualifying sessions. Yeah, that totally is going to be the goal.

But, yeah, not even thinking about that right now. Just thinking about tonight.

Q. How do you expect the second lane to run?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I'm really hoping that the second lane brings that in. I'm hoping that second lane practice brings the lane in.

I think it will be a bit better than Texas because it hasn't got the coating. Maybe it's not enough cars. But, yeah, we'll see. Man, the race would be so good if we could do that, people actually run there in the first 20 laps. It will just be a completely different race to what it was.

Hoping it works.

Q. How much of it is confidence driven, when drivers see guys going up, versus rubbering up the track up there?

WILL POWER: Exactly that. They see people running reasonably fast on the outside lane, if that happens to be the case in the practice, it will give people confidence to go there and know it's rubbered in. When they come into practice, yeah, hopefully it works.

Q. How much of this race becomes a fuel conservation race as opposed to others?

WILL POWER: Yeah, the second lane, it's actually got more grip up there because it's not polished. It just needs rubber. I think if we can get it in a bit, when the 30 minutes is up, everyone else comes out, people actually go up there.

Yeah, the fuel race, if there is some yellows at the beginning, people will try to make it on a three-stop. That's when it becomes a bit of a fuel stop. It really depends on when the yellows for that, otherwise it's a four-stopper.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: Not something I take note of or even look at those things.

Q. If you go all the way to the inside of four, that is the points race. The top six guys are all up there battling. What does that really say about this points race that you've got everybody right up there at the top of the grid?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it just shows no one's letting up, no one will until the end.

Yep, pretty tight battle to the end. It will be very interesting to see how it unfolds. All you can do is just do your best. Do your best. Can't control some things, so see what happens.

Q. Now that you've tied Mario, which you wanted to do, what do you want to do next?

WILL POWER: I need to tie Michael in wins. That's one win away.

Q. Need to tie Helio in 500s.

WILL POWER: I can almost guarantee that is not going to happen before I'm done. That's a pretty good run if you could do that.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Will. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the night.

[FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

Two-time series champion and 2022 title contender Josef Newgarden will start third after his run of 181.629 in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden, who has won the last two INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway, is fourth in points, 22 behind Power.

Scott McLaughlin ensured the asymmetrical, 1.25-mile oval was a Penske playground with all three cars in the first two rows of the starting grid, as he qualified fourth at 181.406 in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet.

Chip Ganassi Racing also had a strong day, putting three cars in the top six. Reigning series champion Alex Palou qualified fifth at 181.289 in the No. 10 American Legion Honda, while six-time series champion Dixon will start sixth after a qualifying run of 180.954 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Saturday’s live coverage of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline will begin at 6 p.m. ET. (USA Network, Peacock Premium and the INDYCAR Radio Network).

POST Will Power Review Of The Rain Interrupted Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline:

Race Rundown: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet team dominated the first half of Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway before finishing in the sixth position. History was made on Friday afternoon as Power became the second driver in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history with 67 pole positions, tying Mario Andretti for the all-time lead. Power led the field for most of the first 130 laps, relinquishing it only during pit cycles. With most of the field on varying pit strategies – trying to make it to the checkered flag with only three trips to pit lane, along with the threat of rain – Power and race strategist Ron Ruzewski elected to continue with the strategy that bought them down pit lane less. He would drop to the back of the top five as those teams that elected to pit for tires were able to make their way past. A two-hour rain delay gave Power and the Verizon 5G Chevy team an opportunity to plan on making their way back to the front when racing resumed with 37 laps to go. Unfortunately, a battle with lapped traffic over the final laps caused him to drop to sixth at the checkered flag. Power maintains the lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings with only two races remaining at Portland International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Power’s Thoughts: "Once again, it was a good day with P6 in the Verizon 5G Chevy. Obviously, we wanted more. We made a mistake and didn’t take that yellow. That’s INDYCAR. It’s never straight-forward. You expect that in the championship. It might come back to us in the next two in a different way. That’s how it is. We’ve got some good tracks coming up. Like I predicted, it will be a tough battle all the way to the end. I’ve been around a long time and know how these things go. The best thing about today is that we finished in the top-six, so that’s still pretty good."

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: House Of Penske, Marcus Ericsson, Mario Andretti, Marlboro 500, Michigan International Speedway, Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Axalta, Valvoline, World Wide Technology Raceway, 67 Pole Positions, 1993, 2022. The EDJE

J-New Re-Enters Championship Picture Winning The Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America

Josef Newgarden takes the win on a Road Course and takes home the $1,000,000 prize put forward by The PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge. By posting a win on at least once this season on the three types of tracks that comprise the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule – road course, street circuit and oval – a Driver will share $500,000 with their team and donate $500,000 to that driver and team’s chosen charity. Newgarden, who previously won this season on the Texas Motor Speedway oval and the Long Beach street circuit, has chosen two charities to split the $500,000 portion – SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment via FB/META (2022)

J-New Re-Enters Championship Picture Winning The Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America

Team Penske's Josef Newgarden takes the win at the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR making this his 22nd career INDYCAR victory and his second at Road America - all behind the wheel of a Chevrolet-powered car.

This win moves Josef Newgarden to P3 in the season points race from P5 - leapfrogging over Pato O'Ward and Alex Palou respectively.

P2 - Marcus Ericsson and takes over the season points lead from Will Power who, with his altercation aided finish at P19, is P2 in the season challenge.

P3 - Pole sitter Alexander Rossi survives to be on the Podium but remains in play for the championship at P7.

This race marks the end of the first half of the 2022 season where not one driver has repeated as the NTT P1 Pole Award winner - NTT P1 Pole Award Winner for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR, Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport Honda - 7th career and first pole in 3 years - 8th new NTT P1 Pole Award winner in 8 races this season.

Pre-Race Top Six NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season Championship Points Standings 

Post-Race Top Six NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season Championship Points Standings 

This excerpted and edited from NTT INDYCAR SERIES - 

FIFTH GEAR: SONSIO GP AT ROAD AMERICA PRESENTED BY AMR

By Curt Cavin | Published: Jun 13, 2022

The number of interesting aspects to the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR were almost too numerous to count and are the foundation of today’s Fifth Gear.

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Let’s get right to it.

Newgarden Again Dominates Road America

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Two-time series champion Newgarden won this race by 3.37 seconds over Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) as Ericsson passed Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda) on the final restart. Rossi was bidding for his first race win since 2019, coincidentally at Road America.

Newgarden pushed his season win total to three races and is third in the standings, only 32 points out of the lead as the season approaches its official midpoint. Newgarden won for the 23rd time in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, tying him with Tommy Milton for 19th place on the sport’s all-time list. The next win pulls him alongside Ralph DePalma and Bobby Rahal. Two more ties him with Gordon Johncock.

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Standings Shakeup at the Top

With series leader Will Power having two moments of trouble and finishing 19th, Ericsson regained the points lead for the second time this season. The Swede’s margin over Power is 27 points.

Eight of the top 10 positions in the standings changed hands this weekend, but what should concern the title hopefuls is Newgarden moved up two positions. He stands to gain more in the weeks ahead.

Newgarden is the defending champion of the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where he has won twice overall. He also has two career wins at Toronto’s Exhibition Place – site of the Honda Indy Toronto on July 17 – and could be in line to sweep the Iowa Speedway doubleheader sponsored by Hy-Vee on July 23-24 as he has won three races at the short oval track. Two races after that comes the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline, an event Newgarden has won three times, including the past two.

Ericsson has become a legitimate threat to win the championship. He has finished fourth, first, seventh and second in the past four races.

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Two title contenders took big points hits Sunday, gaining only five points each. Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) finished 26th when his car had a mechanical failure nine laps from the finish. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou (No. 10 The American Legion Honda) got back on track after early contact with Ericsson – more on that in the next item – but still finished last in the 27-car field.

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Team Battles Highlight Road America

Ericsson found himself amid a dustup with Palou, his Ganassi teammate, in Turn 5 on the race’s fourth lap. Their slight wheel contact led to Palou driving into the gravel trap with damage, something the reigning series champion wasn’t happy about.

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Although replays suggested Ericsson simply capitalized on an opening to gain a position, Palou’s comments added spice to the race and provided intrigue for how they work together moving forward.

Michael Andretti’s team had some hotly contested racing between Romain Grosjean (No. 28 UniFirst/DHL Honda) and Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), but it lacked the comments delivered by Palou. However, it was fun to see three Andretti drivers dueling in the final laps, with Rossi holding off Grosjean for third place, with Herta giving the team three finishers in the top five.

Andretti Autosport is a team to watch in the second half of the season. Rossi has strung together three straight top-five finishes to climb to seventh in the standings, and Herta, who won the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will be the defending champion of the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 11).

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More Competitive Racing

Sunday’s race featured another large dose of thrilling action, particularly behind Newgarden and Rossi, who combined to lead 42 of the 55 laps – and more given that all the other laps led were by drivers who were out of pit sequence.

The exchanges mid-pack were tremendous, especially with so many different fuel strategies in play. The result were 226 total on-track passes, just off last year’s series record 231 at this track. For position, there were 191 passes, just off last year’s record of 194.

The action came on the heels of a similar race at The Raceway at Belle Isle Park, where there were a circuit-record 280 total on-track passes, with 148 of them for position. Fifty-nine passes were in the top 10, with 23 in the top five. INDYCAR president Jay Frye called those “big numbers for a street course.”

Several drivers had noteworthy runs, including Felix Rosenqvist (No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP) who continued to impress with his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. He led seven laps en route to finishing sixth. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had one of its best races with Graham Rahal (No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda) finishing eighth, rookie Christian Lundgaard (No. 30 Fleet Cost & Care Honda) 10th and Jack Harvey (No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda) 13th.

Simona De Silvestro (No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet) achieved her goal of completing all 55 laps. She finished 21st in a competitive 27-car field. She will compete at Mid-Ohio and in the Nashville street race on Aug. 7.

Up Next: Second Half of Season Begins

After five consecutive on-track weekends, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES now takes a two-weekend break before the second half of the season gets rolling with the Mid-Ohio race on July 3.

Newgarden won last year’s race after leading 73 of the 80 laps. Ericsson and Palou finished second and third, respectively, with Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) fourth. Dixon has won a track-record six races at the track, most recently in 2019.

The Mid-Ohio race will be the ninth of 17 events scheduled for this season. There is still a variety of races to come, with four held on permanent road courses, three on ovals and two street races. The season ends Sept. 11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

[Reference Here]

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Press Conference - Sunday, June 12, 2022

P2 Marcus Ericsson / P3 Alexander Rossi

THE MODERATOR: Second and third place have arrived, Marcus Ericsson finishing second, as well as Alexander Rossi finishing third. Marcus' third podium of the season, seventh career podium. Alexander Rossi, second straight podium finish after also finishing there last week at Belle Isle, third straight top five, 27th career podium.

Marcus, primarily the restart there at the end, being able to pass Rossi, how difficult, how satisfying?

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, it was a really good race for us. We were strong all weekend. Already on Friday the car felt good. Had a good qualifying yesterday. Was my best qualifying of the year with P4.

I think the race was pretty straightforward. Pretty good from our side. Obviously a lot of cautions that got you out of rhythm. Yeah, car felt good.

Got some opportunities there in the end to try and get a better position. Alex had a bit of a slide out of the last corner so I got a run on him and managed to get by.

Overall good day. P2 is a really good result for the championship, back in the lead. Super happy. The team did a really good job on pit stop strategy, so really thankful to the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda Ganassi crew.

THE MODERATOR: 27-point lead over Will Power as you take the lead in the overall standings.

Alex, your thoughts on another podium finish for you?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, probably a little disappointing when you start on pole and can't convert. It was generally a good day I think. I think Josef had a little bit better pace than us. I think we were the second best car. Pretty aggressive on the restart there to try and do something. Just kind of overstepped a little bit. That's what allowed Marcus to get by.

Ultimately I don't know that we would have been able to win. Got held up with Scott McLaughlin a little bit coming into the pits when we were trying to leave on the first sequence. With the lap cars, Josef was the first to get to him. From there on it was trying to close the gap that got started there.

A little disappointing, but all in all I think it was a very positive weekend for us for obvious reasons A good run of races, look forward to going to Mid-Ohio.

THE MODERATOR: Almost two shots at Josef there. Can you talk about those.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: He went pretty early on the first one. I went with him on the second and actually got too close.

Yeah, he executed well. It was my mistake, which allowed Marcus to get by. You got to try in those situations to go for the win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Marcus, Alex said basically tried to win going into turn five. What was that move like from your perspective? Talk us through that situation.

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, from inside the car, the door was open there. I went for the move. Alongside him at the apex, made the corner. From my side he turns into me from the outside lane. You hate to see your teammate retire from a contact with you. That's the last thing you want to do.

I don't see I did anything wrong. It was a fully race move. Might have been early in the race, but this race is a track-position race. If you get an opportunity, you need to go for it.

As I said, there was nothing wrong with that move. That was clear on the TV pictures.

Q. Is this sweeter knowing that the championship leader had a bit of an issue early in the race as well?

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I haven't even looked. Obviously a lot of cautions and stuff. I knew you had to try to capitalize on that. We lost the lead last weekend, but it was nice to get that back and get P2.

Coming into the small break we have now with some good confidence. We're in a good position for the second half.

Q. (No microphone.)

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I would like to stop that (laughter).

I think, no, yesterday was the eighth different polesitter in eight races I think, if I'm correct. I think that says a lot about INDYCAR at the moment. It's the most competitive series in the world. We have 27 cars this weekend. I think that's incredible. Out of those 27 cars, it feels like at least 15 of them cars can win the race if they have their day.

It's really fun to be part of that. Yeah, I think it's going to be tough all year. Miss a little bit one weekend, you're P10 or P15. It means you need to be on top of things all the time.

Last weekend was a good example. A bit off on strategy, didn't work our way. We managed to finish seventh. That's the results we need to if we want to win the championship.

Q. (No microphone.)

MARCUS ERICSSON: Like I said, from inside the car it was clear. I was alongside him at the apex. I was surprised that we hit at the middle of the corner. Like I said, I made the corner, didn't go up on the curb. It was not like I was oversteering or anything like that. I was surprised to get the hit there.

I don't know what more to say. I only saw it once on the TV. It looked like a good move to me. Again, I hate to see my teammate retire from a contact with my car, but I don't feel that was on me. I feel like it was more on his side there.

Q. (Question regarding the issue in the pits with Scott McLoughlin.)

ALEXANDER ROSSI: I honestly don't remember. I think Brian was telling me to wait. There's nothing you can do about it. That's just an unfortunate sequence that happens. I think it certainly cost us the lead there.

That being said, I do think Josef had a really strong car today so I don't know necessarily that we would have been able to beat him. Maybe, I don't know.

But it's neither here nor there. That's just part of the way it works. Ultimately it's good to avoid contact and lose a little bit of time.

Q. Marcus, you're back in the points lead, up 25 over Will Power. You get two weeks off. How do you feel the rest of the points race is going to shape out for you?

MARCUS ERICSSON: It's going to be tough all the way. Like we talked about, it's so competitive in the series at the moment. Any given weekend can be a new winner. It's hard to be even in the top 10 if you don't get everything right.

I think it's going to be a tough season, a long season. We put ourselves in a really good position now, leading. So we just got to keep doing what we've been doing. The last 12 months we were the top scorer in the championship. I think that says something about where we've been performing since Detroit actually last year, it was actually 12 months ago today.

Yeah, I think we're in a strong position, but it's going to require a lot of hard work, keep doing what we've been doing.

Q. You're all teammates, but do you feel you're the lead Ganassi car at the moment?

MARCUS ERICSSON: I think we're all equal, to be honest. We have Scott Dixon, which is a legend, one of the best ever. Obviously Alex, Jimmie.

The cool thing with Ganassi is we all get treated the same way. (Indiscernible) enough to continue. Yeah, that's how I see it.

Q. Marcus, how beneficial is this result for you given you're back in the lead in the championship going into the break?

MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, it's very big. I think we had a decent day in Detroit, but obviously it's never nice to lose the lead. So that was one of the goals going to Road America, to regain that lead.

Obviously Will and Pato and Alex, I think all three of them had bad days. That's good for us, since they were the closest ones in the championship going in.

But, yeah, like we said, it's going to swing a couple more times. It's a matter of being consistent now, bringing home the results. Today P2 was definitely a very good result for us with the way the race played out.

Q. Alex, what went through your mind when you saw Josef in front of you after that pit stop? Do you think you had the pace to chase him down or you lost the race on that move?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: I think through the subsequent three stints we were catching him. The last stint we were coming pretty hard at him. It was going to be really hard to pass him, I think.

But, yes, I think that certainly cost us a lot of time, A, because we lost the lead but 'B' he was the first to hit the lap traffic. It's always a little bit easier for the first car to get through the lap car as you come up on them.

Ultimately, yeah. But again, I don't want to take anything away from the pace and performance that he had all day. Like, we were a little bit off on the balance to start, and it took us a little bit to get it back in the window. Then the pace was good.

But, yes, it didn't help. I don't know ultimately what the end result, if it would have been any different.

Q. Alex, is there anything that you or the team can do to get over that proverbial hump that you're kind of stuck behind the last few weeks?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: I don't know. Is there anything I'm stuck behind?

Q. Is there a hump.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Sorry, it's breaking up.

THE MODERATOR: Are you over the hump?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Are we over the hump? Well, I am 30, so... I guess (laughter). It's not awesome.

Yeah, I mean, I think you get a little bit of confidence as results come. Yeah, I mean, I guess we're still looking for a win.

But, yeah, I mean, it's certainly been a lot different these past couple races than it has been for the races preceding that. That's a good thing.

There's still areas we can improve and need to be better. We'll certainly look at that and analyze that going into Mid-Ohio.

Q. Definitely have to be looking forward to the break until the beginning of July.

MARCUS ERICSSON: I want to go racing again (smiling). I love what we're doing. It's fun that it's been so hectic the last few weeks.

But I think for sure for all the crews and everyone, it's good to get a bit of a break here before the second half. Also personally it's been pretty full on since the 500 win a couple weeks ago, so it's definitely going to be good to sort of get a couple days off, recharge, then refocus again for the rest of the season.

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and let you guys go. Congratulations. We'll see you at Mid-Ohio in just a few weeks' time.

[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Press Conference - Sunday, June 12, 2022

P1 - Josef Newgarden

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Josef Newgarden. The second win here at Road America. Third win of the season, 23rd of your career. Now ties the great Tommy Milton for 19th on the all-time list. Most importantly today the People Ready Force For Good Challenge, $1 million. Half goes to your favorite charity. A spectacular day.

Tell us about it a little bit.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was a great day. Great, great day. Felt really good going into it. Felt like we had a car to win today. It was just about executing.

My team really put me in position on that first stop. Rossi was not going to be easy to beat today. I felt like he was very strong. I felt like we were a little bit better than him, but he was by no means going to be simple to go by.

That first stop is really what set the tone for us. Once we got in position, it was about getting through the lap markers, the alternate strategy quicker than him, building a gap, maintaining it. I felt like our PPG car was hooked up and had it from Team Chevy on the power side pretty much as always this year.

Really comfy. To be able to win this million bucks, give half of it to charity, is very cool. Very, very cool. I'm sure our recipients are going to be thrilled with that.

THE MODERATOR: On the Zoom joining us are your friends that are going to be the recipients.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Fantastic.

THE MODERATOR: Kathryn Hurley is the founder of the Nashville chapter of Wags & Walks.

Kathryn, say hello.

KATHRYN HURLEY: Hi.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Kathryn.

KATHRYN HURLEY: Hi. We are absolutely thrilled. Congratulations, Josef. I mean, you know what we're going to do this year with all the dogs here in Nashville. That was bigger than me winning the Super Bowl for the Detroit Lions. We are absolutely so, so thrilled.

It's going to impact literally thousands of dogs here in Nashville and allow us to build an amazing adoption center. Congratulations to you, Ashley and your little one at home.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thank you.

For people don't know, our dog Axel was adopted through Wags & Walks. Kathryn really started the charge in Nashville. Wags & Walks started in L.A. Kathryn started the Nashville chapter for it. They've been doing an amazing job. They work with a lot of great people in Nashville. They save all sorts of dogs. All sorts. You should hear some of these heartbreaking stories that these guys through to find these dogs homes. We need more of that.

We're very happy to be able to get some money to this group because they've done a lot for us and for a lot of people in Nashville. Very thrilled.

Thank you, Kathryn, for all your work.

KATHRYN HURLEY: Thank you so much. Congratulations again.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us. By the way, the $10,000 for each and every race continues through the rest of the season. You may not be done.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We'll work on it more.

KATHRYN HURLEY: The good news continues.

THE MODERATOR: Blake Maher is the CEO from the (indiscernible).

BLAKE MAHER: Congratulations, Josef, on a big win for you and your whole team. Couldn't be more grateful for the win today and all you do for SeriousFun, a true champion for us.

(Loss of audio.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We want to help these groups as much as we can. To have something like this challenge I think fires you up more competitively, that you want to get it done for them. You know it's just a bonus and a plus for these two groups.

Yeah, not quite as emotional. I just know how impactful it is, so I get really competitive and want to make it happen.

THE MODERATOR: Tremendous day. So congratulations many times over.

Questions.

Q. What type of dog is Axel?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: He's a mutt. He has a lot of different breeds. He's a smart little fellow. Cute, adorable. 30 pounds. He's a lot of things. He's got Shepard in him. All sorts of stuff. I couldn't even tell you.

Q. You said on the TV interview you had forgotten about the $1 million prize. How can you forget about something like that?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I do forget about it at points. Like, I didn't think about it coming into this weekend. I totally forgot that that was a thing. There's a point you get reminded about it. You're like, Oh, yeah, that's right.

But for me, it's not something you really dwell on because it doesn't matter ultimately at the end of the day. I'm not going to try to win this race because this is on the line. You never approach any race that way.

I want to win the race because I want to win the race. It's a great little bonus. It's not a little bonus, that's a big bonus. It's just one of those things that kind of comes with it.

It's not motivating for me that I have to do something extra because of this. I'm putting my best effort forward every weekend. I know if we can just focus on our job, get the job done, at times I get reminded, This is also going to come with it. That's very, very cool obviously.

THE MODERATOR: Blake, do you have anything else to say? We lost you there.

BLAKE MAHER: Josef, I just wanted to make sure you heard our congratulations. We're so excited for you and the team. Thank you for being a champion for SeriousFun, whether you're at camp, welcoming kids to the racetrack, your ping-pong tournament. This, of course, is such a huge feather in your cap. We're so proud to work with you and thankful for all you do for all the kids at the camps around the world.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thank you, Blake. We're so fortunate to have people like you and SeriousFun Children's Network. Keep up the great work as always.

BLAKE MAHER: Hope to see you soon. Take care.

THE MODERATOR: Blake, thanks. You've been a great friend for INDYCAR in the past and for years to come.

More questions.

Q. It seemed like the first pit stop was the key to the race. You were able to beat Rossi out. From that point on it seemed like every time...

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was going to be that point or another point. Truthfully I was hoping for an all green start, no cautions, because I felt that's where we could find the exposure in Rossi's game.

I was kind of biding my time but felt like I had the straight speed advantage with him. I felt like my Chevy was much quicker than him on the straights. I was going to wait for an opportunity.

All the yellows really took away that potential. We were running most of the laps under caution, so the reds weren't going to drop off as much. We needed to make the difference somewhere else. We came in right on his tail. I made sure, Look, I'm going to give my team ample opportunity, get as close as I can to Rossi on the pits.

If it wasn't going to happen on the pit stop, it was going to be an out lap or a back end of a stint (indiscernible). The pit stop is what ended up being the pivotal point for us. If that wasn't the point, I think we could have made that point somewhere else today.

Q. Pit selection seemed to work in your favor. I believe you were the last pit out.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, yeah. We were first out, if you will, first box, which always helps. You got a clear out. You don't have to worry about typically a lot of the mess going on in the middle or wherever you're located at.

It does pay to start up front.

(Loss of audio.)

Q. Obviously the difference on a late restart this year versus last year was considerable. Can you forget that stuff?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don't really think about it. If you want to talk about last year, it's not anything anyone did wrong. It's a part that failed that I think was a $50 part. No one has ever seen it fail. It's not like it was a prep issue.

I couldn't have affected anything. I or the team couldn't have affected anything to make it different. Had no thought about it. I was just focused on today.

The thing I focus on is we're in position. You don't have many opportunities to be in position to close. I just want to close. That's where my head was at today, yep.

Q. With the two late restarts there at the very end, were you surprised on both cases how much you were able to gap Rossi going up the hill with the green flag there?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Not after watching him. I kind of knew where the strength and weakness was. I felt like we had a good advantage on him in certain areas. We tried to exploit that as best as possible.

It was two really good starts, great attack mode from Team Chevy. All of that contributes to being able to push the gap. I was hopeful we could do that, but I can't say I was surprised. I felt like we had that potential. I knew if we just do our job, we can do that, and was happy to see it kind of come to fruition.

Q. You get a good cut of it the bonus. After buying some baby stuff for the newborn, what is the first dumb thing you're going to buy with the money?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don't know. I don't know. Probably a bunch of McDonald's. Probably over a hundred dollars worth of McDonald's at least. That's probably stop one. After that, I don't know. We'll have to see.

Q. Will had a line in the interview that it's hard to get wins except for Josef, he's got multiple. How hard is it to win now compared to earlier in your career? What do they mean now?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It's extremely difficult. It's hard to win a pole. Hard to win a race. The landscape is not constant these days. I think 10 years ago you used to have sort of consistent trends. When a team would find a performance edge, they would typically carry that edge across the entire year.

Whereas now I think people find these little edges on each other like every weekend. It's going up and down all the time.

You see a McLaren strong at one track, Andretti strong at another, Ganassi pops up, ECR pops up, we're in the mix. Then a Shank pops up. It's never ending.

We say every year it's the closest competition we ever had. Somehow it keeps getting tighter. It must be just the development of this car has really hit a fine point. You're just constantly tuning little things now, millimeters of changes.

The driving style is getting tighter, with simulators, all this stuff you can analyze. It's impossible to hide something from the competition.

Yeah, it is very difficult to win these races consistently. To be able to put multiple on the board, it's a job well done to everybody in the 2 group.

Q. Three wins is like what drivers are looking for, if you want to win the championship, you have to win three races. Do you feel like you've got the momentum in the championship or is that still with Marcus after the 500 win?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It's been a little bit too up and down for us. Kind of feast or famine. I think we genuinely had the potential for four or five wins up to this point. So we've done three of the potential five, let's say. The other ones that we weren't winning, we were finishing too far back.

We've got to up our consistency. It's a little abnormal for us. I feel like we're a fairly consistent group. So I'm not going to lose sleep on why that was happening. Sometimes you get in these little micro trends where we didn't have the consistency we needed.

Number one, we need to clean that up. We need to win a couple more races before the year is out because of the way the first part of the season went. We definitely have wins on the board. But definitely more than wins, consistency is going to rule the day this year, for sure.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I felt good coming into the season. I felt good about last year. I remember we were getting hounded, up to this point last year we were getting hounded on why we hadn't won a race.

For me it was funny because I'm like, You guys must not be inside our internal network and seeing. We're just totally fine, totally fine. There's not a problem with the team. We're where we need to be. Just wasn't clicking off for some reason.

I felt that way going into this season and I feel that way now. I think we're in a good spot. We have to clean up the consistency. For one reason or another that didn't happen up to this point. I know if we keep doing our normal thing, that will come.

We just need to keep on a good track here till the finish. Feel very positive about our group. I mean, we don't have anything negative going on. Honestly, there's nothing that I could be complaining about. We got a really strong team, everything is in a good place, great partnerships with Tammy Chevy and everyone else. Yeah, feel good about it.

Q. (Question about the late caution.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I think I cooked my stuff a little bit too much on that second stint. I was aggressive with traffic. That's where I think I got the gap, was I was more aggressive than he was cutting through either a lap marker or an alternate strategy. So that ripped a really nice gap for us.

After that it was more just trying to manage it. I kept watching my gap to him. I was trying to study where he was strong and where I was weak. I just kind of focused on tire management after that point.

I could tell he was very good in the beginning through 75% of the stint. I think we had the edge in the last 25%. Look, we have a good gap here, got more overtake, let's just try to manage tires. That was my game plan as I got to middle to finish. I think that worked well for us.

I was surprised. We didn't get to see what was going to happen in the first stint because of all the yellows. That's where I thought I was going to find the exposure for him. I was a little bit worried, we missed that opportunity, but let's see what happens on the primaries. It worked out. I think we had a fast car all around.

Q. Can you explain how restarts work here.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, typically in INDYCAR now the rule is there's a restart zone that's designated. Typically it's around the final corner, sometimes sort of encompassing the entire final corner, sometimes it's a bit more.

In our case, it's kind of 13 to 14, that lead-up into 14 is the restart zone. So the procedure for us is the pace car lets us get temperature, does a pretty quick lap, then slows us down. By the time we get to the carrousel, packs us up. As we get to turn 12, he tries to get away. We let him get away to where we can start 13 to 14. That's our process.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Rossi was as tight as he could be to me when I got on the gas. He definitely wasn't getting jacked up, to use your words. It's just the point. INDYCAR sort of designates the restart area or zone that you can start in. We know that. That's what I did today.

Q. From our point of view once you got the lead, it seemed like you were pretty comfortable. Was it that comfortable to you? Anything you think you could have done better?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would say it was only fairly comfortable today. I didn't feel like we were lights out better than anybody. But I felt like we were just as good. I felt we were kind of toe-to-toe with Rossi today. It was just about managing the tires the best.

I think raw pace on the primaries, we were probably similar. It was a matter of when you wanted to push them.

Yeah, what can we learn? There's always a lot of little stuff. We're going to go back and analyze the sectors, look at straights versus corners, mechanical changes that we made. We're going to analyze all of it and see where we can optimize for next year.

At this point the broad strokes are very good for this track, these conditions. Now that I'm also saying that, we're going to come back next year and it's going to be a completely new challenge, they're going to resurface this place. We are still going to analyze and learn what we can from this season, but pretty open book next year.

Q. This track could be quite a bit different. Do you think that's a good thing? Do you think it needs it or rather it stay like it is?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I'm indifferent. If it's up to me...

(Loss of audio.)

[ht ; FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

Next up???

Mid-Ohio - The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2023 Civic Type R on Sunday, July 3 (noon ET, NBC, Peacock Premium, INDYCAR Radio Network).

... notes from The EDJE

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TAGS: Josef Newgarden, The PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge, 1 Million Dollars, Marcus Ericsson, Will Power, Team Penske, Chevrolet-Powered, Road America, Halfway, Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR, The EDJE

Chip Ganassi Racing Defines Tour-De-Force At The 106th Running Of The INDY500

Post 3-Round Qualifications at the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race for 2022 - from left to right - Defending 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion, Alex Palou, 7-Time NASCAR Champion/retiree and INDY500 Rookie Jimmie Johnson, 6-Time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion and NTT P1 Pole Award winner for the 106th Running of the INDY500 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi, NTT INDYCAR retiree NTT INDYCAR Champion/INDY500 Winner Tony Kanaan, Formula 1 retiree and second year CGR team driver (and 2022 winner of the INDY500) Marcus Ericsson. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment via FB/META (2022)

Chip Ganassi Racing Defines Tour-De-Force At The 106th Running Of The INDY500

In a motorsports event environment that has recently become the cornerstone in what can be termed "The House Of Penske", the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Memorial Day weekend, played host to one of the strongest showings in team work and performance to be witnessed during The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.

Swede. former Formula 1 driver, and third year Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson became the second person of Swedish decent to win the Indianapolis 500 in the one-hundred and twelve year history of this 106th 500 mile challenge. 

Chip Ganassi Racing's second year driver from Sweden, Marcus Ericsson, pours the winner's milk over himself in celebration on left ... on right, former Chip Ganassi Racing's driver from Sweden, Kenny Brach, congratulates a student he mentored throughout his career. Image Credit: Foto: TT via FB/META (2022)

Many may remember the name of Kenny Brach from the open wheel days of the IRL (Indianapolis Racing League) and CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) sanctioning bodies during the late 1990's. While driving for A. J. Foyt during his second year with the team, after capturing an IRL Series Season Championship in 1998, Kenny won the 1999 83rd Running Of The Indianapolis 500.

It turns out that Kenny was also a person of great influence through the early years in the pursuits of Marcus Ericsson as a race car driver through Karting, and later through conversations about driving the oval races in America. Further, it is noted that during his career, he was a driver on a Chip Ganassi Racing team in 2002 along with Bruno Junqueira, Jeff Ward, and amazingly ... Scott Dixon.

In the 2022 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Post-Race Press Conference, Marcus was able to field a congratulatory ZOOM Call participation from Kenny where Marcus shared that while he languished racing with the uncompetitive teams in F1, he felt that he would love to race in INDYCAR because it was more competitive and that he was comfortable with the very high-speed corners presented throughout the circuits they raced on in F1, more so than many of the other drivers he competed with. He always imagined to himself that he might be good at oval racing if given a decent chance to grow and learn.

The team work on display from Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) showed itself all during this month of May from each of the five drivers and teams entered in the 106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500. 

Chip Ganassi Racing Brain Trust Post-Race Press Conference - Mike Hull, Chip Ganassi, & Mike O'Gara

The other members of the CGR Team begins with the other three full-time drivers that include six-time NTT INDYCAR Series Champion and INDY500 winner (2008) Scott Dixon, defending 2021 NTT INDYCAR Series Champion Alex Palou, second-year and seven-time NASCAR Series Champion (coming out of retirement to learn to race in INDYCAR including the INDY500) Jimmie Johnson, then the addition of a one-race specialist entrant - past NTT INDYCAR Series Champion and INDY500 winner Tony Kanaan. 

The style and intention of these professionals ... as a functioning team as opposed to five separate and singular units ... showed itself in how evenly matched the performance of the drivers, as a group, throughout the 6-Practices and the 3-Rounds of qualifications to set the 33 car field. 

No other team, as a group, represented themselves better. After all, CGR captured the NTT P1 Pole Position Award through having Scott Dixon post the fastest four lap qualifications speed to capture the pole starting position (his fifth) recorded in the 106th running history of the INDY500 event at 234.046mph.followed by his teammate Alex Palou at 233.499mph which, in itself, came very close to Scott Brayton's run of 233.718 set in 1996 that had been the fastest four lap qualifications speed for pole position recorded until 2022.

The fastest four-lap qualifying style run of all time at Indy, was set by Arie Luyendyk, also in 1996, although because this run was not set on Pole Day, Luyendyk was only able to post a speed that earned him a 21st position on the grid.

Jimmie Johnson came close to earning the distinction of "Rookie Of The Year" for the 106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500. He led laps and ran high in the order before his late RED Flag crash. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Paul Hurley (2022)

Before the race, in practice and through qualifications, all five CGR cars and the group that supported them set performance speeds that had them at the top of the 33 car field as a consistent dominate force to a level that may never be matched. Combined Practice (6 sessions) CGR drivers were Dixon P2, Johnson P3, Palou P4, Ericsson P9, Kanaan P20. Qualifications ended with Dixon P1, Palou P2, Ericsson P5, Kanaan P6, Johnson P12.

During the race, especially throughout the first couple of pitstops, it looked as though the two leading drivers of CGR would just go out and control the race through swapping the lead with each other to save fuel and maintain field pace. First Dixon would be in the lead a few laps, then Palou would pass and tow Dixon for a few laps, then Dixon would tow Palou, and so on, and so on. Nothing is predictable here at this 112 year old motor culture and event center facility, however.

Alex Palou gave up his early race leading performance on an unforced timing error having to do with rules governing Full Course YELLOW Flag pitlane closures. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Matt Fraver (2022)

The first chink in this seemingly perfect strategy came on Lap 68 when Callum Illot driving the No. 77 Chevrolet-Powered Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara hit the wall on an unforced driving error (the second incident at this same corner, Corner 2 - Rinus VeeKay driving the No. 21 Chevrolet-Powered Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara spun on Lap 39) setting up an opportune time to pit for the field leading Alex Palou. The problem here was that Palou was force to drive through since the Full Course YELLOW Flag dropped just feet before the No. 9 of Alex Palou was able to cross the limit line that defines pitlane, having the Pits be closed to all cars during a full course caution period for safety purposes. On the next lap around, the No. 9 car was so low on fuel, Alex had to come in for a splash sending him to the back of the field for restart on Lap 77.

This left Scott Dixon at the front of the field without a team mate to perform this cooperative strategy of swapping the lead. Conor Daly, driving in a competitive Chevrolet-Powered Ed Carpenter Racing prepared car, did step up a couple of times, but realized that, when leading, he was giving a fuel mileage tow advantage to the Honda-Powered GCR prepared car.

The next issue in preventing a Chip Ganassi Racing team victory came on another driver error, this one forced, when Scott Dixon came in for his final pitstop on Lap 175. Scott came in over the limit line too fast and violated the pitlane speed limit that is allowed within the whole of the pitlane and after getting his car serviced, Dixon had to drive around a full lap then come through pitlane again, as a drive-through penalty, forcing Dixon to rejoin the field one-lap down, at or near the back on Lap 177.

Now what? 

After the field performed its pitstops, this left the lead first to Pato O'Ward for two laps, then CGR team mate Tony Kanaan for five laps, then another CGR team mate Alex Palou for three laps, then interrupted by Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti for three laps, then back to a dual CGR team mate stint run until the end of the race with Jimmie Johnson (the only Rookie to lead laps in this race) for two laps, and finally Marcus Ericsson for the final 11 laps. 

RACE RECAP - Championship Racing News By Josh Farmer >>>

Marcus Ericsson in champion vanity shoot with hat, wreath, and Borg Warner trophy at the yard of bricks station - well earned. As Mike Hull, Managing Director of Chip Ganassi Racing, observed during the post-race press conference, "It's really difficult to teach somebody to win. There's a lot of race drivers that say if this, if that. This guy doesn't say 'if'. He said, Let's work together and make it happen." Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Doug Mathews (2022)

Were it not for a late race crash for Jimmie Johnson that brought out a Lap 195 RED Flag and set up the final dash to the end of 200 laps, Jimmie Johnson may have been named "Rookie Of The Year" for finishing high and leading laps. Again, the team work and domination by CGR was "in everyone's senses/face." This was truly a "all hands on deck" team effort.

In the end, the team effort displayed by the personnel in support of five drivers and cars had each of the drivers lead laps and lead the vast majority of laps during the 200 Lap affair at leading a total of 163 Laps in the eventual winning of the 106th Running Of The Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon walks away as the driver to lead the most laps, at 655, in the overall history in the 106 races run over the 112 years this 500 mile test has been held.

When it comes to Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson P1, Tony Kanaan P3, Alex Palou P9, Scott Dixon P21, and Jimmie Johnson P28 ... Tour-De-Force in team work and effort sums this Memorial Day motor culture tradition quite nicely, n'est-ce pas?

UPDATE From American Legion  (click GETTR image) 

[As Suggested/Almost Predicted Here At The EDJE]

... notes from The EDJE

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Post Script:

During the 2022 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Post-Race Press Conference which was additionally attended by writers on a virtual ZOOM Call, Tony Kanaan also mentioned that his car was also a best of the field at the end, just not enough to pass Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O'Ward or Tony's CGR team mate Marcus Ericsson, but that he had placed himself in the best possible position to win his second INDY500 ... all it would take would be a bump, a cut tire, a two car accident into the wall and there he sat in P3 with a lead against the field to cross the Start/Finish Line and "Yard Of Bricks" to deliver Chip Ganassi Racing its fifth (5th) Indianapolis 500 victory in it's history of competition. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Q. With two laps to go, restart, the Indy 500 victory is right there in front of you, all you got to do is pass this guy. What is it like in the cockpit, in your head, to have that kind of shot and come up short?

PATO O'WARD: You clinch. You clinch a lot every corner (smiling), yeah (smiling).

Q. That's it?

PATO O'WARD: You go flat and you hope to God the car doesn't snap.

Q. How about you, Tony?

TONY KANAAN: I had the best seat in the house. I'm like, C'mon, Pato, go, go, go.

PATO O'WARD: You liar (laughter).

TONY KANAAN: If you guys crash, I would win (laughter). Go, go. May be my teammate, but I didn't take him out (laughter).

He's smart enough not to do it. I was like, Oh, I guess we're finishing third.

ENDS

Chip Ganassi pointed out during the post-race press conference in an answer to a question on having Tony back for another try at winning the INDY500, "In his retirement we've made him the vice president of entertainment (smiling). And he can drive, too, yeah. He can still win this race. You saw today with his performance. Led a little bit. Kanaan is a veteran. He's a wily veteran. He knows his way around this place, no question. So we're not throwing him out yet."

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TAGS: Chip Ganassi Racing, CGR, Marcus Ericsson, Tony Kanaan, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Jimmie Johnson, Tour-De-Force, Team Work, INDY500, The Greatest Spectacle In Racing, The EDJE