Team Penske To Mentor First Diversity Focused Open-Wheel Race Team Dubbed FORCE Indy

The team’s debut race will be at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where it will compete in the support race for the NTT IndyCar series on March 5-7, 2021. “When the IMS and IndyCar acquisition happened a year ago, I was pleased to learn of the work Rod Reid was doing,” said IMS chairman Roger Penske at the announcement. Image Credit: Chris Owens via NICS (2020)

Team Penske To Mentor First Diversity Focused Open-Wheel Race Team Dubbed FORCE Indy

It was announced that in order to place some teeth into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES management agenda of inclusiveness, a new team focusing on African American involvement in motorsports is entering the Road to Indy series starting competition next year. This team effort will be mentored by Team Penske’s state-of-the-art operations in order to help it get off the ground successfully. The team is named FORCE Indy and will be managed by Coach Rod Reid, NXG Youth Motorsports President and CEO.

FORCE Indy will initially field an entry in the USF2000 series, which has the lowest barriers to entry of the Road to Indy ladder, and will look to advance all the way up to the NTT IndyCar series as the program develops.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 series is the first official step in the Road to Indy feeder series program, followed successively by Indy Pro 2000, Indy Lights, and finally the full-season ride in the NTT IndyCar series.

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA - Thursday, December 3, 2020

Rod Reid - NXG Youth Motorsports President and CEO

Jimmie McMillan - Penske Entertainment Corp. Chief Diversity Officer

J. Douglas Boles - IMS President

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. My name is Dave Furst with the NTT INDYCAR Series. Great to see you on a special day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I want to welcome Roger Penske, chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, kind enough to join us here this afternoon. Mark Miles, president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp.

Up on the desk, we welcome and say hello to Jimmie McMillan, the chief diversity officer with Penske Entertainment Corp. In the middle, Coach Rod Reid, 40 years of auto racing experience, some outstanding work with NXG Youth Motorsports as the president and CEO.

The only man allowed to wear a suit today, J. Douglas Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Incredibly exciting news today as we witness the launch of a groundbreaking and completely diverse team in open-wheel racing, called FORCE Indy. It will be led by Coach Reid, the principal. A team that will focus on diversity through mechanics, engineers, of course the drivers, but other key staff and personnel throughout the race team. Of course, it will do so under the mentorship of Team Penske, the legendary open-wheel race team, motorsports in a whole.

FORCE Indy will compete and open things up, the first race will be the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship opener at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, comes up in March. Going to be here before we know it.

We'll start with Jimmie on the far right. You've seen firsthand the passion that Coach Reid brings each and every day. This is also a part of the broader Speedway, IMS Race for Equality and Change. How important is this day?

JIMMIE McMILLAN: As an African American male, I cannot understate the importance of today. Someone who did not grow up with the sport, but grew to fall in love with the sport over time and over being introduced to it by others. I have strived to spread that love to other African Americans, people of color. This is a pivotal morning.

All morning I've been thinking about this might be one of those: Where was I when it all started? To have the opportunity to be here with Coach Reid, it's just amazing.

I've had the chance over the past six years to work with Coach Reid in the NXG program. And to see his heart, his passion, his dedication to provide opportunities to many folks, many kids who wanted to get into racing, their parents didn't know how, didn't know anything about the sport, but they brought their kids to Coach Reid.

I happen to be one of those parents. My sons are participating in the program. My son I know is watching from him, looking at coach, thinking, There's a future for me.

This is very pivotal for the Race for Equality and Change that we are undergoing right now. I could tell you under our leadership, certainly under Roger Penske, but also under Mark Miles, Bud Denker, Doug Boles, Allison Melangton, Jay Frye, we are all committed to changing this sport. It is an everyday laser focus on what we can do to move the needle.

This is a significant move. To have Coach Reid at the helm, I can tell you the team is being led by the right person to take this initiative in the right direction. This is not about a driver, it's not even about Coach Reid just as an owner, but this is about the commitment to provide opportunities throughout the sport, whether it's accounting, HR, legal, marketing. There's so many ways in which we can be more involved and more engaged in this sport.

Through that we're going to service the fans we already have. There have been people of color following this sport for a long time. For them, this will be a happy moment.

We hopefully also will introduce new people to this thing that we love called auto racing. As part of the Race for Equality and Change, this is a big step. This is also a big step in our social construct for providing equality and equal opportunity for people of color in all areas of our lives.

THE MODERATOR: Coach Reid, you were wearing a mask when you walked in, but I could tell you were smiling ear to ear. This is an important day, a dream come true in many ways. What does this day mean to you?

ROD REID: I have spent, as you say, almost 40 years. I won't go deep into the timeframe (smiling).

I've had an opportunity to see the sport from back when I was in my teens coming to the Indianapolis 500 all the way through to being involved with one of the first African Americans to run in Super Vee. We always dreamed of having a black enterprise that would be oriented towards people of color.

I want to be clear. This is not the first time that we've had black ownership in cars or teams. But I think this is one of the first times we will be able to do something that's sustainable because of the support and the interest from folks like Roger Penske and the Penske organization, we've been able to start on this path.

I kind of see this two way. One is that we are inviting the black community to come into motorsports through our effort as FORCE Indy. We are also inviting the motorsports industry to embrace seeing and having the presence of African Americans and people of color in the pits, in the paddock, in other places in motorsports.

I want to be very, very clear that we are about diversity. We are about more than just me as a principal and the drivers. As a matter of fact, one of our core projects that we've engaged in in terms of putting this team together is to make sure that we have those positions like mechanics and engineers and others in the mix.

Today I want to talk about who I'm really celebrating, the stars of Force Indy. That is these three gentlemen sitting in front here. That's Stu Kelly, Nadeem Ali and Derek Morris. They are part of the beginning and initial core crew that we're having. They have been spending a tremendous amount of time working so far to get us to where we are today.

I just want to mention very quickly that they're not just guys that love racing. They all individually have been doing that. Stu has been drifting. That Nadeem has been involved heavily in go-karts. Derek has run stockcars. They have good backgrounds from the university level, both in engineering, management, et cetera.

They've all come through Nexgeneracers, the NXG Youth Motorsports. That's what this is about, to bring those and give opportunity to those who not only deserve it but have worked towards this opportunity, getting a chance from us being able to say, I can now be involved in motorsports.

I want to applaud those guys, and thanks for being part of FORCE Indy.

THE MODERATOR: There is so much, as you know, most everyone in this room, that goes into putting a race team together, forming a race team. Rod, what does the fact that Team Penske is going to be there as a mentor, what kind of impact is that for this team?

ROD REID: There's no question that being mentored by the best in the business is a big plus for FORCE Indy. We have been just so honored to be a part and to be able to have an alliance with the Penske organization that will actually support us, give us the tutelage, if you will, to go and become successful.

They have, without question, Team Penske has earned I believe like 18 Indy 500 wins, 16 championships. They're absolutely the best. We're going to have an opportunity to align with them. We're going to start off in Concord, North Carolina, so that we can really learn, then we hope to bring that team back here to Indianapolis.

It's an invaluable experience to be working with the Penske organization.

THE MODERATOR: Doug, certainly an exciting day, but really for the industry as a whole this is a pretty exciting day. You worked with Rod for years and years now. What kind of drive does this guy have?

J. DOUGLAS BOLES: He's certainly driven. The thing I love most about Coach is how passionate he is, but how unselfish he is. You see that in the three guys he's called out here.

He's had a dream since the 1980s to develop a team like this where it wasn't just about an African American driver or African American owner. It was really about an African American business in a space that hasn't always seen a lot of African Americans in it.

For Coach to take along immediately guys that have been through racing, have been through the NXG Youth Motorsports program that's been here for 15 plus years, 2300 underrepresented youth have come through the program because of Coach Reid.

His commitment to come out here on weekends, take these kids, introduce them for a different sport. Jimmie talked a little bit about it. It's not just about the sport. It's about how do you introduce them to a lot of life skills that our sport teaches, trying to show them opportunities here.

The one thing I want folks to take away, I think Coach does too, this is not just about a race team this, this is a business.

When people see this announcement and they think, I don't know anything about racing, to Jimmie's point, it is a great opportunity to learn it. More importantly, it's a great opportunity for people that are interested in accounting, PR, marketing, things that aren't necessarily in motorsport, to be involved in our sport as a whole.

It's a great day for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fantastic day for Coach Reid and for Penske Entertainment Corp. This is a huge day for motorsports internationally as a whole to have this announcement today. We can't wait to see it flourish over the next few years, see where it goes, because this is just the beginning. It's not stopping at USF2000 we hope as we go forward, this is just a beginning, a continuation of Rod's dream.

Dewey Gatson, better known as Rajo Jack or his pseudonym Jack DeSoto, (July 28, 1905 – February 27, 1956) was an American racecar driver. He is known as one of the first African American racers in America. He received the nickname RAJO from the parts he used to improve the performance of the many client cars he worked on throughout his career (see later exhibit).  Image Credit: Driving Line (2016)

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I noticed you're going to run No. 99. Explain the importance of that, why you chose that number.

ROD REID: It's so important for us to know where we've come from. There's a lot of history. African Americans have been in motorsports ever since the beginning of the car, the sport itself.

A gentleman in the 1920s by the name of Dewey Gaston, he went by the nickname Rajo Jack. He actually ran No. 33 for a lot of years, was very, very successful with that number.

RAJO MOTOR COMPANY was famed for producing improved functioning head and valve solutions for people who wished to greatly improve the overall power and reliable performance of the Ford Motor Company cars they owned. Dewey Gaston became a "go to" resource and distributor for this company's solutions at his shop located in Pasadena, California. Image Credit: Driving Line (2016) 

He was staging a comeback in the early '50s, late '40s. He brought a car that he thought would be extremely successful. That car was a big block engine, thought he was going to put it up front. It was No. 99. He was never able to win in that car. I think he finished the best with like a fourth in one of his races. Then he stopped.

I thought it would be fitting for us to take on that heritage and use the No. 99 to move forward. With the help of the Penske organization, we wanted to put No. 99 in the winner's circle.

Q. Are the plans to run one USF2000 car or two?

ROD REID: We're actually working on that. There are a lot of moving parts. If you follow USF2000, they have some rule changes and so forth. Right now we're going to start with one car. We are currently vetting drivers. We're going to work on getting that announcement to you guys as soon as we determine that. For right now I think we're going to start off the season with just one car.

Our hope is that we will grow an organization that can serve more than just one driver.

Q. Rod, you mentioned already what an impact you feel like this can be for the entire racing community. Could you maybe expound on that a little bit. What do you feel like from your experience around this sport the last 40 years, what does this day mean for motorsports?

ROD REID: Well, I think first of all, it demonstrates visually that there's a commitment on the part of the leadership in motorsports, especially when we look at again I talked about the best in the business, a gentleman like Roger Penske, who has had an opportunity to really see what we do, and do something about it. This Race for Equality and Change is an unbelievable program that's allowed us to sort of have a stage.

But I think looking broadly at the black community in particular, there hasn't really been this invitation to the black community to say, You know what, motorsports is important to you, should be important to you as it is to all of us, we welcome you. We want you to come in as fans, enthusiasts, potentially having a career in motorsports.

If the community doesn't know about it, are not aware of it, not exposed to it, I don't think that's going to happen. I think that's important.

Why is that important for motorsports? Because now we won't overlook the kind of talent you see sitting in the front row. I think there's other talent across the board, people of color. I think motorsports can benefit from having all of our entire community involved in the sport.

Q. How does having a team that's based around this diversity initiative, how much more powerful do you feel that can be compared to we've have a couple black drivers in INDYCAR in the past, some other folks throughout the paddock, but having an entire team centered around that, how much more powerful do you feel that can be?

ROD REID: I think one of the things that will happen is that others along the pit road will see us, we hope throughout the ladder system. We hope there are other teams, not just USF2000 teams, but up the ladder, INDYCAR will say, I'm used to seeing these guys, maybe there's some talent over there.

Our idea is to grow that talent so maybe we have an a mechanic that's working at a Ganassi, maybe have someone driving a trailer or working in the office. What we're trying to do is have someone in PR like Tracey Royal Communications, having them be a part of the community as a whole.

I think there's a strong opportunity for the entire motorsports community to see this.

Q. Jimmie, you've only been in your position for a couple months. You mentioned at that point how much potential you saw in diversity in INDYCAR. Looking ahead, how can this team serve as a jumping off point for what you want to do?

JIMMIE McMILLAN: Absolutely, it's a pipeline or a fuel line, if you will, where we're going to push a lot of energy, a lot of opportunity for a variety of folks who haven't got that opportunity thus far.

If you look at the sport, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that despite efforts by others, the sport still remains largely white. Some of the things that we've heard in our process of trying to evaluate those issues is a lack of applicants, a lack of people who have interest in the sport or who apply for positions when they're available, people who don't have the training that they need to jump on a team or be a part of a team in some way.

From my viewpoint, there's also a lack of education. Some of it is because people are not interested in the sport or they're not interested in coming to the race because they don't see anyone who culturally looks like them. This is going to be a great step to do that merger that Coach Reid is talking about where the sport is reaching out to the community, but now you've given the community a reason to come to the racetrack and root for a team. This is going to be tremendous in that effect.

Also, as we continue to grow and develop, we don't expect for folks to stay with FORCE Indy forever. As Coach Reid said, we're trying to graduate, matriculate people and hope they populate, like pipeline or fuel line, the entire sport. That we can get that going in a way that creates opportunity amongst other teams.

It's not the only pipeline, but other teams start to realize there are talented African Americans and people of color that can do work and be valuable assets to your team.

When we talk to the teams, they say that. They're very interested in two things, one getting younger, and two getting more diverse. They just need a pathway and help to do it.

Thankfully we have this opportunity thanks to Mr. Penske and Rod and everyone here. We have a real opportunity to create change in motorsports.

Q. We've seen so much action around the social justice initiative this year. What do you feel in your experience can the impact be of Roger Penske putting his support behind this?

JIMMIE McMILLAN: It's daily effort. I can tell you that. Every day it's the top of my agenda. I have a whiteboard with a number of initiatives. The energy and enthusiasm and the effort and the work that is going into changing everything from how we do business internally as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, INDYCAR and IMS Productions, who we hire, who we have in leadership, all the way to our community relationships, the work we've done with NXG to raise over half a million dollars to support that program, continuing to grow sponsors, the opportunities we're looking at in terms of the entire paddock, talking to the teams, helping them also to diversify, now this. That's all in a very short period of time.

I think the job we all have is to get the work done to sustain the momentum that Roger has started and sparked in all of us to keep the momentum going. That is something that we didn't have. We haven't had. When you have it, you give it to people like the people you see in front of you, these three young men, you give it to a Coach Reid, I think you're going to see some amazing and incredible results.

I just hope our fans are out there and they're ready and willing and able to come to the track and cheer this team on and cheer these young men on. I'm sure there are going to be young women, as well. To cheer them all on as they really do something historic.

ROD REID: Back in May when so much pain was in the country, I think all corporations that had any sensitivity to what's going on in our world, in American companies, I say that very, very warmly, that American companies all of a sudden opened their eyes and said, There's a lot of injustice. This just didn't start happening this year.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mr. Penske early on when he took over the property. One of the things we talked about was this whole notion of a lot of African Americans not feeling welcome. Why is that? Part of it is that invitation. Part of it is that whole notion that we aren't really here. I think that's the biggest difference when you talk about how has it impacted.

Now we have strong leadership in corporations, especially here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We have a lot of strong leadership who is saying, We want to make a difference. Not just because it's the moment, but because we want to do something that's not only sustainable but that is genuine. I think that is the biggest benefit from what happened.

We can always talk about the negative part. But I think when we look around the room here, we can say that FORCE Indy, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all of the organizations that operate in this sport are taking a good look at what we're doing. I think it's a reason to celebrate.

Q. Doug, this is an 18-race season, USF2000. They're going to be here at the road course Grand Prix weekend. This is a very competitive series. Oliver Askew, Colton Herta, Rinus VeeKay.

J. DOUGLAS BOLES: If you look back at the Road to Indy Series, especially starting at USF2000, we have had 25-ish drivers that ran Indianapolis 500 this year that had come up through one of the rungs of that ladder. 100 plus I think over the history of Indy.

It is the place to begin, to cultivate as Coach said not just the drivers, but the mechanics, the team leaders, the folks that will make a difference not just on FORCE Indy but hopefully over time we're making a difference across the paddock and teams.

It is really competitive. I've gotten to know Coach, I know how competitive he is. I have a lot of confidence that this team is going to come out of the box and be competitive.

One of the things we talked about, I'm really excited about, you mentioned INDYCAR Grand Prix weekend, the 2300 kids over the last 15 years who have had an opportunity to race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the racetrack he sets up every time he's here. Hopefully we have an opportunity to bring them out, get them to an opportunity to compete as they have the last few years on INDYCAR Grand Prix weekend over in the parking lot by the museum. But connect them directly to this brand-new team that will be competing here, to really begin to build that bridge that we haven't had from NXG Youth Motorsports to real professional motorsports. That's going to be a fun day when the kids get to see what they have an opportunity to do.

Q. How big of an opportunity do you think this is for the sport as a whole, particularly in the U.S., given what's going on at the moment?

ROD REID: I think it's a great opportunity for the sport if they can take a look at our example. This should be like wildfire. I mean, people should go, You know what, we think we really want to take a look at potential talent out there.

I don't mind if all of a sudden there are three, four, five different organizations that are wanting to come through the Road to Indy that are considering being diverse. I think that would be a home run for us.

Q. Can you take me through how all of this came together, how all of you have had to work together to make this possible.

ROD REID: I can tell you that it was a blessing to sit down with Mark Miles, Doug Boles, be reintroduced to Roger Penske. A quick side-bar. We talked about the fact that we had been in the same company, I had met him back '80s, '90s, I can't say how long ago. I was five years old, Roger (laughter).

But we had a chance to connect and reconnect, if you will, and talk about what Nexgeneracers, the NXG Youth Motorsports was doing here at the Speedway. We knew that we had had a partnership, even though it wasn't a formal one, for a lot of years, with us being able to bring those kids and those families into the track perhaps for a lot of them the first time.

We started there. Just kept talking. Said, You know what would be a good way to continue this relationship? We talked about the fact that I think having a presence on the track, being part of the show, is a real key thing.

That's how it kind of came about.

Q. I understand Myles Rowe had a test in USF2000 back in July. Have either of you spoken with him at all, are in talks with him at this point?

ROD REID: We have spent the last couple months vetting a lot of drivers, maybe those who are testing cars, maybe those who have been overseas in the UK driving, those who are in other support series, F4, et cetera.

I can tell you there's a lot of talent out there. There are a lot of deserving drivers. Our goal is to sit down and make a decision and choose one of them that we think fit our criteria.

Very quickly, that criteria includes being an American, it includes being someone that has been given an opportunity to go from karts to cars as part of that transition. We're also looking for someone that is youthful and can grow with us as we start to develop our team.

Probably the most important thing is they've got to fit what our mission is. We're really all about the full team. This is not just about the driver, as you've heard from everyone here.

Q. Rod, how important is it to be based in North Carolina near Team Penske's shop?

ROD REID: We thought initially with the alliance that we've been able to have, again I'll just talk about how thankful I am that they've agreed to work with us, we thought that would be a good place to start.

I mentioned that we hope to come back to Indianapolis in short order. But I think it's extremely important to have an opportunity to work with the best. That's why we're there.

Q. A few miles from Team Penske's shop is GoPro motorsports complex. They host a lot of major karting events. How involved have you been with that facility, see some potential talent?

ROD REID: We've been there a couple of times. At least I've had a chance to go down. I think my crew of guys here have had a chance to go over there and have a little fun.

I think that track, and there are many other tracks from coast-to-coast, that we have young drivers. There are a couple of young ladies that have been competing in go-karts that we know about. Those are working in an area down in NOLA.

I think it's across the board that there are really good opportunities for young people in karting to get into the sport.

Q. You said earlier you will start with Formula 2000. Are there plans in the long-term future to move up to Indy Lights or INDYCAR?

ROD REID: We think it would be a great opportunity to move up the ladder as we become more proficient at what we do. Our focus is going to be on learning as much as we can, using what we learn. We will measure our success by how well we can do in the garage and on the track.

Moving up I think would be a natural progression, as anyone would in motorsports. So absolutely those are things that we would consider.

Q. This project FORCE Indy, is it just concentrating on African American drivers or just also to other people in Europe in any kind of motor racing?

ROD REID: Our focus is heavily towards American drivers, men and women, that typically would not have an opportunity to touch motorsports. That would be our focus.

When we talk about people of color, having a diverse team, we fully will go beyond whether they're black and brown or other. But our focus right now is definitely on American drivers and crew and engineers, et cetera.

Q. Next year obviously marks the 30th anniversary of Willie T. breaking the color barrier. How significant is to it have a team operating under the FORCE Indy banner? How will you incorporate Willie knowing he's an international history maker in what he's done?

ROD REID: I think it's fantastic. I've been really fortunate enough to have known Willie, was around before he came to Indianapolis. He actually was running Trans-Am when we were doing Super Vee, if you recall that.

I think it's fantastic this celebration for him next year. I'm hoping there are a lot of opportunities for him to kind of showcase who he is. I know he's got a movie out and things like that.

We definitely applaud his efforts.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much.
[FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

What is common to this trade of motorsports, FORCE Indy has yet to come to an agreement with a main title sponsor and is still vetting young drivers for its first ever entry. 

Coach Rod Reid has already been considering numerous drivers, and believes there is plenty of talent available. This grand FORCE Indy effort will grab all of our attention come 2021 - stay tuned.

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: FORCE Indy, Rod Reid, NXG Youth Motorsports, Jimmie McMillan, Penske Entertainment Corp., J. Douglas Boles, IMS, Cooper Tire, USF2000 series, 2021, The EDJE

Tony Kanaan Reunites With Chip Ganassi Racing For Partner Car Season Ride With Jimmy Johnson

Jimmy Johnson picks tri-athlete friend, Tony Kanaan to pick up the oval race event duties of the No. 48 Aeroscreen Dallara during the 2021 & 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES seasons. Here, TK negotiates Turn 9b at Sonoma Raceway in his last race for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2017. Both NTT and Bryant have hopped on board to sponsor TK's pursuit of a second INDY 500 championship to match up with the one he got with KV Racing Technology in 2013. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Tony Kanaan Reunites With Chip Ganassi Racing For Partner Car Season Ride With Jimmy Johnson

Tony Kanaan accepts position with Chip Ganassi Racing to drive a car he will share with Jimmy Johnson for the 2021 & 2022 seasons. Jimmy Johnson will drive all events held on road and temporary street courses and Tony Kanaan will drive the No 48 on the oval race events. 

This contract will give Tony the opportunity to be entered and compete in the INDY500, a race he won the championship in 2013 for KV Racing Technology.

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Monday, November 23, 2020

Tony Kanaan - Chip Ganassi Racing

Press Conference Begin

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. Great to see everyone today virtually. My name is Dave Furst. A very special announcement this morning from Chip Ganassi Racing that Tony Kanaan, 17-time race winner and of course the 2013 winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 2004 NTT INDYCAR Series champion, TK will be returning to the team as part of a multiyear deal with Chip Ganassi Racing next year that will include four oval races for the series: Double-header at Texas Motor Speedway, of course the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 and a return to Worldwide Technology Raceway. With that we welcome in TK and say congratulations.

Tony, this is the Last Lap 2.0? Is that how this works now?

TONY KANAAN: I don't even know anymore. I don't know what to call it. It's been a surreal last few days. This thing happened so quick. Although people would think different that this has been going on, this was obvious, it was never obvious. It took a lot of work from a lot of parties to make it happen, but it's cool.

So yeah, I don't know what to call it. Let's just call it I'm sharing the 48 with Seven-Time.

THE MODERATOR: That's right, this is the second half, if you will, of the 48 car on the team with seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson driving the road and street courses. This is a really good partnership. You two have gotten to know each other pretty well over the last couple years, haven't you.

TONY KANAAN: Yeah, coincidence or not, we share the same passion of triathlon. We're sponsored by the same bike company, which is Trex. We've been sharing workouts for a long time.

Even before I made this deal happen, when Jimmie announced that he was going to race in INDYCAR, he was here in Indianapolis. He came here to work out at Pit Fit. We went cycling together. It's going to be -- I think we're going to be even fitter than we've ever been. We've been pushing each other already, so I don't know how that's going to be possible.

But yeah, it's a good fit.

THE MODERATOR: Before we get to questions, obviously it's an opportunity to return to Chip Ganassi Racing, which of course will celebrate its 13th NTT IndyCar Series championship, sixth, of course, with Scott Dixon, but Bryant returns, so does NTT. This is all coming together. This is a very special announcement here today.

TONY KANAAN: Yeah, if it wasn't for them and Chip, obviously this would not have happened. Bryant has been with me since 2003. NTT has been with me since I've joined Ganassi, and since I left Ganassi they came with me, as well, and now they're back.

You know, I have to blame a lot, if there is somebody to blame, number one, it would be my sponsors that when I came back saying maybe we should come back next year, David from NTT and then Justin and Margo from Bryant said, why not.

And then Jimmie for making that phone call. That phone call -- you know what is one of those things that you remember exactly the day, the clothes you were wearing, where you were and so on? I was actually on my bike working out, which is not a surprise, here at home, and the phone rang, and it was Jimmie. I'm like, whoa, I thought he was going to invite me to do a triathlon or something like that, and he popped the question, and I said, are you joking? I don't think we can pull this off.

But yeah, without the sponsors that would have never happened. And obviously Chip giving me the opportunity to come back.

I mean, how cool is that; know what I mean? I woke up this morning, I feel extremely lucky, man. I'm going to go back to a team with my best friend Dario Franchitti, my other best friend Scott Dixon, and now Jimmie. How cool is that to write a story afterwards when it's all over. I feel blessed. I can't thank everybody enough for pulling all this effort together, my family, my wife. She kind of knew that I wasn't giving up. I guess she's okay to put up with me for another couple years like that.

Q. I'm not real good at math, but if we've got a car with a seven-time cup champion and you're a 2004 INDYCAR champion, isn't that an eight-time champion car you've got there?

TONY KANAAN: Yeah, I think so. We can call it the eight-time. That's a good hashtag, #eighttime.

Q. I did a lot of interviews with you toward the last Indy 500 and last year's race at Gateway. You could tell you weren't ready to hang it up. How can you describe just the change in emotion from what has happened to you since that time where you admitted, hey, I want to come back but I don't have any rides, to today you're returning to a team that's one of the best in the business and also a team you've previously driven for?

TONY KANAAN: Yeah, I mean, I would say probably if it wasn't for the pandemic, I wouldn't probably have changed my mind. There were some talks about doing the 500 and on and off and this and that, but I wasn't clear.

And then when I said, this is not the way I want to go, I was fully aware that this was what I wanted, but that didn't mean that's what was going to happen.

But like anything in my life, it never came easy, and I made the decision, and if it didn't go through, I was going to have to own it. I put my head into it. I said, oh, well, I'm not going to give myself an option, I'm going to make it work, and luckily, like I said before, I have great partners like NTT and Bryant. And as soon as I came back with them, 7-Eleven is back, too, Big Machine is coming back, all of them.

But the two biggest ones were NTT and Bryant really that made this happen.

I was lucky then, but then that was step one, get the sponsorship. Step two, it was trying to find a place that would fit right, that would make the right decision and so and so, and that was a little bit more complicated. There was a few sleepless nights and talking to Jimmie every day, like come on, what's happening, and trying to -- if you think about it, look how many pieces of the puzzle we had to put together.

Jimmie had to get his deal first, which we didn't even know if it was going to be Ganassi at the time. Yeah, the deal happened really quick, but we've been talking about this on and off for quite a while. But in the beginning I really said argh, this is never going to happen. That was the pessimistic side of me thinking it was going to be impossible to pull it off.

Q. How, does Jimmie have one more mentor with you because I imagine you'll be at all the races in one capacity or another?

TONY KANAAN: Yeah, I mean, look at Jimmie. Jimmie has the best mentor in the house, which is Dario Franchitti. That's not me. It's Dario's role. I think I can contribute for sure. I'll be there if he needs me, but with Dario -- obviously with me he's more like hey, how do I need to make my neck stronger, how do I make my shoulders stronger and this and that. I think the driving side, we have the best driver's coach in the business to do that, and that's not my intention to do so. But if he needs help, I'll definitely be around. But yeah, we've been talking a lot. Jimmie is an extremely committed guy, and he's been concentrating a lot on the task. That's what the guy does. We talk pretty much every day.

We haven't had a chance to celebrate together yet because of the pandemic and stuff, but after what he made me go through, I think it's more than worth it that he needs to buy me a few drinks.

Q. I wanted to clarify something with you first. You'd mentioned that you and Jimmie had been talking about this off and on for a little while. How recently did this become what felt like a realistic possibility? Was it over the last couple days, last couple weeks?

TONY KANAAN: A week ago. A week. Yeah, a week. You know, the talks were always there. As long as you're out of contract, you are talking to everybody, right. So I basically did. I was in negotiations with Larry. I was always up front with him. We talked to other teams. And in the meantime everything else was happening.

We got it done in amazingly record time, for how complicated the deal was.

Q. You said that if not for the pandemic that 2020 very likely would have been your last year. I imagine the lack of fan interaction both at the 500 and at other races that you were running in 2020 had to have played into this. How important is that hopefully at some point in 2021 or 2022 that we have that back for you to put a cap on things for your career?

TONY KANAAN: Well, I think that was the only reason really that I said I wanted to come back. I mean, there is no other reason -- I mean, yeah, do I want to win the 500? 100 percent. Am I in the best place to do so? 100 percent now. Those are the details. But the sole decision to come back from day one was because it wasn't fair for the fans.

Never in a million years did I thought I would come back for two more times, which became a pleasant surprise because then I give myself another caution that if it's not sort of a normal year next year then I have hopefully for sure a normal year in 2022. But that was the only reason really.

Q. The ability to return to a team like Chip Ganassi Racing, I know when someone -- an INDYCAR driver, I just was looking through it, there haven't been too many INDYCAR drivers that have spent a significant part of their career there and been able to come back for a second time. What do you imagine that opportunity and that ability these next two years to be like?

TONY KANAAN: I mean, first of all, that shows how much respect and in good terms I've always been with the teams that I've worked with. I've never closed a door. I spent four years there, and I told Chip at the time I didn't think I delivered as much as I should have and I needed to go, and we went away.

To be honest, come back, having an opportunity like this in the last two years of my career, it's something that I'm not taking for granted. I mean, I talked to Chip last night, and we have one goal. It's to make this team win the 500. Chip just told me, I added another big chance to do so with you, and that's my role, and that's what I'm here for.

Like I said, I feel very humbled that I have these eight races in the next two years to do it. I don't think commitment is a problem with me. I think you guys have been following me for quite a while. I think I'm in shape, and I'm ready to do so.

Arguably some people said my best results came on the ovals, so let's please the people that think that and let's go win another 500.

Q. I imagine you'll be one of the most active people in the lobbying effort to try to get some more ovals on the schedule for 2022 before you hang things up?

TONY KANAAN: I already sent a text to Mark Miles and Roger Penske saying, how about this track, how about that track. More ovals for sure.

Q. What was it about the first stint with the Ganassi team that's got you wanting to come back to this team? Clearly you've got a great vibe with those guys and you know so many guys as well as you do, but to be able to come back and do this again with them.

TONY KANAAN: Right, as a race car driver you want to race for the best team, for the winning team. They have proven on and off that they are one of the top teams to beat, and as a race car driver, being selfish, that's where you want to be. It doesn't matter who you want to. You want to be on a winning team and a big organization that has a lot of resources and so on.

It's not a hard decision; know what I mean? It's like you're asking a kid if he wants to go for an ice cream. It was obvious.

I have a lot of friends there. I kept a lot of friends there since I left, so it's just -- like I got so many texts this morning from the boys in that shop, and it's just like, hey, welcome back, and we just started talking. I talked to Barry. Barry Wanser, which is the team manager there, our sons Leo and Robert are best friends. Robert spends sleepless nights here at the house when Leo is here for holidays and stuff, and it felt like I never left really. The relationship and the respect was always there, so it's not new, I guess.

Q. Was there something Jimmie said specifically that got you hooked in this conversation, or was it just kind of something that was always there and you just needed it all to fall together?

TONY KANAAN: Yeah, Jimmie just said let's make a dream team and let's make history together. We're two 45-year-old guys that some people believe we can do it but a lot of people believe we can't, so let's prove them wrong. He didn't have to say much, man.

Q. I wanted to ask, are you able to tell us how many other options you had, and were they good options, and did that kind of bolster your self-belief that you could go and do a Ganassi car justice?

TONY KANAAN: It wasn't that many because if you think about it, you're trying to look for -- I wanted to do the four ovals again when I said that, and really the realistic option was Larry, because none of the other teams wanted to split a car or do anything like that.

Vaguely a long time ago I talked to Ed, but Ed and I, we wanted the same thing, so it was not a possibility there. So not really. To be honest, I did -- did I make a ton of phone calls? 100 percent, but it was never a negotiation in place because it didn't make sense.

So then it went to trying to make a decision, so I just go and try to do Indy with all my sponsors and that's it. That would open up more possibilities. But the realistic one was Larry, and then obviously the most obvious one was this one because it was just like meant to be, I guess. How often do you see somebody like Jimmie trying to -- I'm not doing the -- I guess it's just one of those things in life that happens once in a lifetime.

And I have to apologize because you wrote the most -- a great article that I loved it, and now you're going to have to rewrite it I guess in a few years.

Q. We need more great races to talk about. I also wanted to ask if this opens the door for you to be part of Chip's Cadillac team in the IMSA enduro run or maybe more of them?

TONY KANAAN: That's totally up to Chip. Obviously he put me in a car before, he gave me my Daytona 24-hour win, so I'm available. But that's his decision. We haven't really talked about it. It's one of those things that I know if he needs somebody and if he wants me to do it, I'll be available. If not, I'm pretty sure he will have plenty of capable guys. I have a guy like Scott Dixon that you probably know of him that is probably ahead of the line there.

Q. Obviously this is a bit of an adjustment in terms of the final laps now coming in a car that's able to win races, and it's a really competitive opportunity for you. How do you feel about the enjoyment that you're going to feel because I know obviously every driver wants to be at the front and winning races, but are you still going to be able to enjoy this opportunity with the little bit of added pressure that's going to come with driving a car that's capable of winning the races and being at the front?

TONY KANAAN: 100 percent. I think -- my entire career was racing under pressure, and I think I perform better when I'm under pressure. It adds a lot to it. The enjoyment, it's always going to be there. Once you're driving a race car, in my opinion, you always enjoy it, but you enjoy it even more when you're winning, and you add the pressure to it, I think it's -- for me it's the best combination. I mean, Chip is in the business to win races. That's all he cares. I mean, and he won't save you if he has something to tell you.

To me it's a great problem to have, that butterfly in your stomach from now on. It's like, wow, now I have to do it. I have some tough teammates there that I'm going to have to be on top of my game because the team is going to give me everything I need with no excuses to win races.

Been there before a few times, and I think it's totally manageable.

Q. And you mentioned earlier about leaving Ganassi and that it was just the right time for you and you felt like it was the correct decision at the time. That was that really. Does it feel like any kind of unfinished business going back there, you can help them out and make a big impact on this organization, and it's kind of like a bit of unfinished business from the last time you were there, I guess?

TONY KANAAN: 100 percent. I got a second chance to redeem myself and give Chip another 500 win, and hopefully I will do that, work with my teammates to make the team stronger, as well, and if I can win -- try to help them to do so, this is something that, again, I keep saying it's probably one of the best opportunities of my career. It's the best opportunity for me to leave this series, because I am telling you this time for sure in two years I will not be racing when I'm 50, but I said that two years ago.

To leave on a high note, that would be great. I will do everything I can to do it.

Q. What advantage is this to yourself going back to a team obviously that you know inside out in terms of getting up to speed with the car, you've worked with Dixie, you've worked with Dario, but obviously now you've got Alex Palou coming in and Marcus Ericsson who obviously you haven't worked with. How much of an advantage for you is it going into the team now?

TONY KANAAN: I mean, I think, like I said, it's not new. I know the guys. I mean, we talked about it today with Barry. They have my seat. They know my measurements. I was just there three years ago. It's just going to be like we took -- like it was a long "pandemic" and we're just coming back to work and that's it. Getting to know Palou will be nice. I think he's a young gun that has a lot of potential for the future. Ericsson, I know Ericsson; we've been cycling together for quite a bit. I have not worked with him. And Dixon is Dixon. We hang around all the time. He actually just texted right now congratulating me. He's in England.

Really it's not -- I don't need a transition. I think it's just going to be back to work.

Q. And the aim obviously is to win the 500 with Chip then, correct? Is that the focus?

TONY KANAAN: I told Chip I'll win four races for him next year if that was good enough. He said, that's totally fine. So yes. Yeah, the 500 would be the priority for sure.

Q. Edmund Jenks, Motorsports Journal - I was just doing a little review of your career and noticed that you didn't finish worse than eighth in the time you won the championship, and you had a very consistent run with KB Racing Technologies when you won there for your Indy. Fact, Lotus, come on, you finished P4 in a Lotus and P5 in the season. I mean, that's just an interesting reflection. What gets me, though, is this is a -- I recognize as you recognize what a great chance it is to be with Ganassi again. I just think it's a tremendous opportunity. What do you see are the biggest challenges? You've been there before. You've got all these people, a couple new drivers to know, but what are the real challenges for you?

TONY KANAAN: Two things: One, they have improved the car there since I left, so to try to get used to the car as quick as I can, and I think the biggest challenge is not doing it every race. This year I felt it quite a bit on the first race to try to get back up, like you're not doing day in, day out. I've done this for 23 years driving pretty much every weekend or most of the weekends, and when you take a break like we did this year, the first time you get back in the car, especially with the limited testing because of COVID, it took me a little bit.

I think we have a pretty good program with that. I think I'm going to be testing the car eventually in the oval before I go to the first race, which is good. Those I think will be the two biggest challenges for me.

Q. Edmund Jenks, Motorsports Journal - You've got some new wrinkles this past year with two-race weekends, so you're able to kind of keep that in your wheelhouse, and good practice, I guess, for Indy 500, shaking everything down how the team works. The other thing is you have a lot of season open to you. What other challenges would you be going after? Would you be, say, thinking about with Chip Ganassi organization checking out the electric SUV racing circuit or anything like that?

TONY KANAAN: Early in the year -- no, later this year, actually, in the middle of this year, we announced that I'm doing Tony Stewart's SRX series, which is six races during the summer. Luckily they do not coincide with any of the INDYCAR races, so that's another six races there. That makes up to 10. And then we're looking around to some other things, too, maybe do some of the IMSA races, the long races, and there is some possibility of stock cars in Brazil. I think I'll be, now that I have more time, probably busier than I've ever been. Yeah, that is one thing for sure, another six races with Tony Stewart, and that will be a lot of fun.

Q. Do you think Jimmie will look for you advice in INDYCAR, or maybe, this would be funny, if he would show you some ropes in NASCAR?

TONY KANAAN: I think -- he's already asking me tons of questions, and actually the good thing is I am actually asking him tons of questions about NASCAR, but just because I'm sure I couldn't say, not because I'm going to race there. Jimmie is asking me because he needs to know, because that's his job. And for me I'm just -- I have a guy that won so much that I love to hear the stories.

So we've been telling each other stories quite a bit, so hopefully I'll help him with some of my experience so he can be successful in INDYCAR, as well.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks again for being with us today and another congratulations to Tony Kanaan and Chip Ganassi Racing, 24 seasons and counting now, TK. What a great way to head into this holiday week.
[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

Having two very accomplished drivers shar this car for the season in this way is really something special. As was pointed out in the ZOOM Call, Johnson with his 6 NASCAR Championships, and Kanaan with his IndyCar Championship, this Ganassi No. 48 Aeroscreen Dallara is a 7 Championship car opening up for the 2021 season.

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: Tony Kanaan, Jimmy Johnson, No. 48, Chip Ganassi Racing, Partner Car Ride, INDY 500, Multi-Year Contract, NTT, Bryant, 7-Eleven, Big Machine, 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