Thursday, February 4, 2021

F1 Driver Romain Grosjean Enters INDYCAR, With Reservations, For Dale Coyne Rick Ware Racing

The 34-year-old Frenchman is now formally one of the elder statesmen of the F1 grid, his best season remains 2013 when he finished seventh in the World Championship, collecting 132 points for the Lotus team including six podium finishes. In four years with Haas, the Swiss-based racer has never finished higher than fourth, achieving that result in the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. But he insists the “dream” lives on that he could yet emulate the multiple title triumphs he enjoyed in junior formulas ... until now since he has joined the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Image Credit: Planet F1 (2020)


F1 Driver Romain Grosjean Enters INDYCAR, With Reservations, For Dale Coyne Rick Ware Racing

So, if anyone was going to bury the lead, then some will never mention that Romain Grosjean is a Mike Conway from a different country. Romain isn't coming to INDYCAR with the intent to race every challenge the series presents to a professional race car driver at the top of the competitive challenge game - something the NTT INDYCAR SERIES delivers over any other professional open-wheel racing series.

Romain Grosjean will not race ovals ... there, this is the lead, every challenge presented are not the challenges this series is suited for to the likes of one Romain Grosjean.

PULL QUOTE:
Q. According to the release, it says the road and street course races. What's it going to take for you to get on the ovals?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Well, I think if I was 25 and single or even with no kids, I would be racing ovals definitely. No, it's also a family choice. I think on the 29th of November, 2020, for 2 minutes 45 seconds thought they had lost a dad and my wife unfortunately lost her husband. The idea of putting them back into that situation, really I can't take it.

The speedways at the minute, no. But I am not saying 100% no to Gateway. Let's see how the season goes. If we can do some testing on short track and see how it goes.

It's not 100% yes and 100% no, but for now I just need to look after my family in the speedways.
ENDS

Okay, he is soft peddling his reluctance to race ovals, but this is a professional race car driver who has raced in Formula 1 for a decade and has just suffered one of the most horrendous one-car crashes in modern F1 history ... and he doesn't much care for going round n' round. 


NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Dale Coyne, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR
Rick Ware, Dale Coyne with RWR
Romain Grosjean, Driver Dale Coyne with RWR

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Let's start with some introductions. Dale Coyne is set to begin his 38th year in INDYCAR competition. The former driver, now long-time owner of Dale Coyne Racing.

It was announced last week that Rick Ware and Rick Ware Racing would be partnering with Dale Coyne this season with a taste of the NTT INDYCAR Series last year in the Indy 500, but the NASCAR team owner expanding things certainly in 2021.

He announced earlier this morning Romain Grosjean will be driving the No. 51 on the road and street courses this season. A veteran of nine plus seasons in Formula 1, some 180 starts. The 34-year-old joining so many others who have made the transition from F1 to INDYCAR.

Let's start with Dale. Congratulations. Speculation is over. What can Romain bring to your team this year?

DALE COYNE: Look at his résumé. He's bringing a lot. Formula 1 is such a challenging world to judge a driver because it's by team. But if you look at what he did, we're impressed what he did before he got to Formula 1. He won the GP2 series by 35 points. It was a year that I think nine drivers in that series made it onto Formula 1. It wasn't a light year. He won six junior categories before that. He's a winner.

Formula 1, it's difficult to be a winner unless you're with the top two or three teams. So we're going to get him over here with the fourth best team and show that he can still be a winner. We're looking forward to having him with us. Our French engineer Olivier Boisson will be his head engineer. I think they were together over the holidays at Christmas over in Switzerland.

I just think it's a good feeling all around. We're going to create a good environment for him. We're happy to have Rick Ware with us this year. Got a taste of it at Indy last year. Once you get a taste of that place, you want to keep coming back.

We just look forward to a strong year with Romain and with Ed, so...

THE MODERATOR: Rick joins us as well. Welcome to a full-time participant in the series. How did this partnership come together? You're obviously not messing around when you have a driver like Romain.

RICK WARE: Yeah, Dale said it best. I grew up with a road racing background initially. We're kind of knee deep into NASCAR. But follow road racing, love road racing. Anybody that's in motorsports obviously I believe follows Formula 1 to a huge extent.

We had some opportunities for sponsors to expand a little bit last year, from an owner's standpoint I've never been to Indianapolis. Who could not want to be part of that? When James Davidson came onboard, we started talking. The racer in me wanted to try to figure out a way to do it. Talked to several people. Had nothing but great stories about Dale, working with him.

Got to meet him. I felt like we kind of hit it off as far as he's a journeyman driver into a team owner. Kind of the same with us. This is our 30th year in motorsports. This is all we do for a living. We live and breathe it.

The racer in me, man, just ate up Indianapolis. Of course, we'd been there with NASCAR. Indy is about INDYCARS. We put a deal together. I really started seeing the benefit of trying to expand just our reach as a race team.

To go in and say that we're going to just do it all on our own would have been a huge feat. Right now with where we are in our career, we want to have success. I joked a little bit with Dale, I kind of want to be him when I grow up. He's been very, very successful.

We kind of just talked back and forth about kind of what my dreams were, where we wanted to be with RWR. I wanted to expand in the business and marketing model like Penske, Ganassi, that can go to sponsors and be able to offer different motorsports platforms.

We just talked more and more. I think over the long haul we really didn't have a second plan really for a driver. We said there's maybe an outside chance that something may happen with Romain. I think we waited for several months. Selfishly, we figured it was going to be a great story to have a great driver. It's a business, obviously, first.

I'm excited to have a guy like that drive for us. I'm excited to just get to the racetrack, expand our sponsors. It's all business, but man, some part of it I'm kind of like a kid, too. I'm just so thankful to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Certainly congratulations to Romain. Welcome to INDYCAR, the NTT INDYCAR Series. Why is this move the right one for you at this time?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Well, thank you.

I mean, it's the one I want to do. I have a chance after doing 10 years in Formula 1, I had the option to discover something new. There were few options on the table, but I felt like the one that I wanted to do was INDYCAR.

I got in touch with Dale last year, before Imola. I really felt there were a big enthusiasm on getting me onboard. It's something that I really, really loved and felt good about.

I looked at the options that I had. I say what I want to do is to go in INDYCAR because I've been watching the races. The series looks super competitive. The car looks fun to drive. The circuits looked amazing, just the old style that I really like. When you look at Road America, Mid-Ohio, the street courses, Laguna Seca, they're part of the circuits that I used to play video games on those 20 years ago. Not good to say that, but 20 years ago (smiling).

I am super excited to discover the championship. I've been absolutely amoring the YouTube channel of the INDYCAR over the Christmas period, watching every race for the last three seasons, trying to understand what I need to learn.

There's lots to learn from a rolling starts to doing the pit stop to learning the car. I'm ready to tackle the challenge. I think it's the right one.

THE MODERATOR: I have to ask you about your recovery from the accident. How is that going for you?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: It's going okay. This is my left hand, so it's still quite marked. But it's uglier than it is bad, I would say. It's all working well. The left hand ligament was pulled away. I've had surgery. This is going okay.

I think the first test for us is the 22nd of February. I may not yet be 100% in terms of what I can do, but definitely good enough to drive very well. By the time we go to race one, I think I'm going to be ready.

I'm not worried about it. I've been in the gym since the accident. The accident happened on Sunday in Bahrain. By Wednesday I was already in the gym trying to get the mobility going.

It was a difficult call for the doctors between stopping my hands to move and getting the recovery and the skin faster, or keeping it moving to keep the strength and the mobility. But we knew there were more risk of delaying the healing.

With the season start being postponed a little bit, all actually played in my hand, if I can use the play of word (laughter). As I say, I am not worried that we're going to be okay.

In terms of physical training, I've been going in the gym quite a bit because I know there is no power steering in INDYCAR. That's something I need to relearn.


THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Romain, some of the Formula 1 drivers have been over here in the past, such as Fernando Alonso. They like the fact that the driver can really race with the INDYCARS more so than with some of the technology you were used to with the F1 cars. As a racer, how much does that intrigue you, that you can go out there in a lot of ways hustle this car rather than have the technology be so dependent on the vehicle?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Well, this is something I'm very, very much looking forward to. I've been watching the races. The way you can follow the car in front of you, the way you can slide the tires, the way you can either try to play with your 'push to pass', the fact that the cars in qualifying are within 6/10ths of each other. This is all really exciting.

You need to get the details right and so on. I think, yes, as you say, you don't have the differential you can move, you don't have the recovery and all the shaping and the braking, the systems you can have in Formula 1.

I think the racing, yes, the car a little bit slower, but the racing looks much better from everything I've been seeing. I think in that respect I'm super excited about it.

Q. Formula 1 was the first to come up with the halo concept. INDYCAR kind of went one step beyond that with the Aeroscreen. You tested out the halo. We saw how valuable it was to save you from further injury. How do you feel about the Aeroscreen, that extra added layer of protection?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Yeah, I mean, it's now part of the motorsports in general, halo and Aeroscreen. As you say, Aeroscreen is a step behind I think absolutely even because the speed are higher, it makes more sense. But I think it's a great invention generally. I need to test it to see if there are any things that you need to adapt in terms of visibility. From what I believe, no.

Obviously it has saved my life. I'm sure it's going to save some more in the future. It's not unknown that I was against the halo being brought to motorsport. But in French we say only idiots don't change their mind. I did change my mind. I wouldn't race a car with no halo or Aeroscreen on.

Q. According to the release, it says the road and street course races. What's it going to take for you to get on the ovals?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Well, I think if I was 25 and single or even with no kids, I would be racing ovals definitely. No, it's also a family choice. I think on the 29th of November, 2020, for 2 minutes 45 seconds thought they had lost a dad and my wife unfortunately lost her husband. The idea of putting them back into that situation, really I can't take it.

The speedways at the minute, no. But I am not saying 100% no to Gateway. Let's see how the season goes. If we can do some testing on short track and see how it goes.

It's not 100% yes and 100% no, but for now I just need to look after my family in the speedways.

Q. Rick, you're still really building your NASCAR stuff. I know you probably want it to be performing better. Looking from the outside, why invest in this? Some people would say you're doing more than what you should be.

RICK WARE: Those are good questions.

The reality is, NASCAR, until the new car comes, which they say is coming next year. It was supposed to come this year. We are stuck in some certain parameters with our budgeting, what we can afford to do and to not do.

Last year we ran more cars. We are running less cars this year. All of our cars across the board are going to be running I think dramatically better, better level.

As you know within NASCAR, you get a sponsor, you get a driver. You're at a certain level. Just because you spend more money doesn't mean that you're going to move up two or three or four spots. We have teams that we're spending 14 and 15 million dollars for the season, 10 million dollars more than we were. They finished two, three, four spots ahead of us in points.

What we have to do is we have to make sure year in, year out how we survive and that we're here and we grow every year. You've seen how we've grown over the years. It takes a lot marketing-wise to make this happen. We brought in 20 new primary sponsors last year. We've kept about a third of them over into this year.

To make it through the COVID, to make it through year in, year out, you've got to have marketing partners, you have to have sponsorship, you have to be able to offer some things that people don't have to offer.

We're not taking money away from the NASCAR side. We're generating new dollars. It's a family business. We invest everything back into our business anyway. So my hope is to grow this to where all the conversations I'm having right now are going to talk about running two or three NASCAR cars and full-time INDYCAR in the 2022 season and beyond.

We are investing more this year into our NASCAR, and we are investing into INDYCAR as well. I firmly believe that will allow us to have longevity. We've seen a lot of really wealthy owners. They got tired of losing $10 million a year. This has to be a business. There has to be a fine line.

We had several top 10s last year. That's hard to do for a small team. To go compete against teams like Romain's car owner and Stewart-Haas is no easy feat. We're trying to grow and be financially responsible.

Q. Is Cody part of this INDYCAR program as well?

RICK WARE: Yes, we haven't made any of those announcements yet. Again, it being a business, Cody only ran a few races last year because we decided to wait until we had proper funding. Cody is now going to run full-time in the Cup schedule.

A few of the Cup races that conflict, we have some really good drivers that we're going to fill in. We've been able to achieve sponsorship with Nurtec ODT, the migraine medication. They're going to be involved in some INDYCAR. They're involved in NASCAR heavily in the Cup Series and Xfinity.

That's an example of how we were able to get a full-time publicly traded company like this. We are trying to be an entity that for a certain amount of money you can be part of the three largest motorsports opportunities in North America.

Getting into the INDYCAR, I hope this will be an ongoing venture and we will grow it together with Dale. Someone like Romain, selfishly as a business, he's a great tool because I think now he'll be loved just as a family guy and a racer, which is very unique, especially coming from Formula 1.

As Dale said earlier, his accomplishments just speak for themselves. You have to understand, this is a business opportunity to grow. This is going to allow us to be more competitive. But we're kind of stuck on the NASCAR side a little bit until the new car comes out. We lost two or three major car owners this past year because the business model did not work. You have to be very careful.

Q. Romain, you were talking about your hand. The recovery is going well. Is there any concern with the new skin rubbing on the steering wheel, putting any pressure on that?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: I guess time will tell. But there's always painkiller if needed. We're going to work around the steering wheel the best we can.

I think it's going to be all right. I mean, it's only a simulator back home that I have for eSports, but I've been using it a fair bit just to get my hand in the right position and get the skin used to do those movements.

I don't have any concern and it should be fine really.

Q. With regards to switching to INDYCAR, is there anything in particular that INDYCAR brings that other options might not have, such as Formula E or anything like that?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Sexiness. As I say, after the accident, there's one thing I realize in life, is to have the choice to say no or yes. Really I think INDYCAR is a top series, top drivers, top cars, super exciting to drive.

I shouldn't mention it, a competitor of mine right now, but yesterday Will Power posted on Twitter a nice video from the helmet, testing in Sebring. Hearing the sound of the engine and watching the onboard, I just took the clip, sent it to my wife and said, This is why I do it. I felt like this is what I want to do. This is what I want to race. It looks mega. Let's do it.

Q. Romain, how many of the INDYCAR drivers do you know personally?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: I'll know Simon Pagenaud, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi. I think that's it.

Q. Dale, how difficult has this been as a process? Through kind of no fault of his own, Romain has changed from doing a full season of INDYCAR to kind of scaling back initially to do the road courses. From a financial aspect, how difficult has the deal been coming together based on those things?

DALE COYNE: We wanted Romain from the beginning. Like he said, before Bahrain we were talking quite seriously. He was always our target. We're happy that it all worked out together that we could make this happen.

Obviously we respect that he's only going to do the road courses. But we're happy with the whole program and looking forward very much to the year.

Q. You've had a lot of drivers come from Europe, from various backgrounds. What do you think makes the team so great at sort of bringing young talent into INDYCAR and also talent from Formula 1? It seems like the team has a really good record of bringing in engineers, people from different championships, helping them to adapt to INDYCAR quickly. What do you think is the secret behind that?

DALE COYNE: I think the secret is the drivers need to feel like we do. We enjoy it. We enjoy the racing, we enjoy the competitiveness of it all. Drivers come here and they enjoy the car. The car is back in my hands again. We can set the car for a driver that likes an understeer, oversteer car. In Europe, they give you a car and you drive it. The engineers are everything and you're just a tool in the car. Here you're the biggest tool in the car.

I think they enjoy that. We enjoy doing that with them. We enjoy learning them and their driving styles, pointing out how to make them better. As Romain says, it goes back to his earlier days in formulas where the camaraderie in the pits, everything that happens, it's such a different feel over here than it is in Europe. I think that gives the driver a whole new rebirth no matter what their age is.

I say this is the year of the old man rookies. We have Romain and Jimmie Johnson, the young guy McLaughlin who is in his late 20s. Hopefully they all enjoy it, have a good time with it. Again, we're really looking forward to it.

Q. Romain, Dale mentioned you've already met your engineer. How did that go? How have you adapted to working with him? Are you positive your chances this season based on your work with him so far?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Yes, I am. I think the relationship, it's very difficult to explain, but sometimes the alchemy works quite well. With Olivier, straightaway we get on very well. We come from the same region in Europe. I guess maybe that helps a little bit. We've had a straightaway good relationship.

I asked loads of questions, some very simple to some more advanced, and we've been talking through emails and WhatsApp quite a bit.

I also told him that I can run on iRacing the INDYCAR. I can send him the data so he can see if it's completely off the reality or not. I can learn the circuits in that aspect.

I also spoke with some of the other engineers working on the dashboard, some of the first few things you do. Also the chief mechanic is named Todd. Straightaway from the day the contract was signed he sent me an email welcoming me in the team, as well as Terry the team manager. I got five or six emails from the guys the day the contract was signed. This is what I'm looking for. I'm looking for working with people that are motivated about racing, and they love it, as I do.

I'm maybe turning 35 in the first race of this season, but I still feel like I'm 20. I've got lots to learn and lots to do.

Q. Romain, have you thought about relocating to the U.S.? Will you commute?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Initially I'll be commuting quite a fair bit because the kids are at home at school. I won't move them. But if things go very well and I'm enjoying my life and my start in INDYCAR, we may think about coming a little bit more.

Let's see. For now I'll be commuting. We've been working with the team and Dale on the date, how we can make sure it all works the best it can.

We know family-wise it may be a bit of a tricky year with some long time of dad out of the house. They also know and feel that I'm excited, looking forward to it. That makes them happy.

Q. Romain, how beneficial do you think it's going to be for you coming from Formula 1 into INDYCAR in terms of getting up to speed? The cockpit is similar. The steering wheel is quite similar, as well.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Yeah, I think there are a lot of things that are similar. There's also things that are different. The anti-roll bar you can set up inside the cockpit, that's not something I've run before. I'm quite excited about it. You can always fine-tune things to your liking.

I've got loads of experience from Formula 1. Some will be useful, I'm sure. A lot of things I need to learn as well. I'm really coming with an open mind and getting ready to be like a sponge, to learn as much as I can from all the guys, from the engineers, from my teammate Ed Jones, as well. He knows INDYCAR. He's been racing there. For me it's going to be very interesting to learn all of that.

Maybe on the engineering side, whenever I've got things that I've done in the past that were useful, just bring that on the table and see how we can work from there.

Q. Dale, as Romain says, he's coming from Formula 1 where it was very kind of data driven. How beneficial is that to you as a team owner to have someone who is experienced with engineering meetings?

DALE COYNE: I think it will be big. Honda has already shown more enthusiasm about our simulator work, what we can learn from that knowing he has an extensive background of some work in the Europe. That's probably our biggest addition this year with his knowledge, what we can learn on a simulator.

Q. Romain, is there any one of the tracks you'll be running that you would say you're looking forward to the most?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: If I'm being honest, pretty much all of them. If you really want to have one that stands out, is Laguna Seca, just because I used to race it when I was, again, teenager couple of years ago on video games. I think it was Grand Tourismo. I really liked Laguna Seca. I think it's going to be cool to go there.

Q. You mentioned you have been watching some of these older INDYCAR races while riding your bike. You mentioned the competitiveness throughout the field as something that excited you. What stood out to you, if anything, in some of those races and how it differed from the Formula 1 racing?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: I have been watching 18 hours and 36 minutes of INDYCAR racing over the last couple of months (laughter). Yes, I think the excitement comes in the fact that in Formula 1, after turn one, you normally know what's going to be the race result just because you know the pace of the car, Mercedes is going to pull away, maybe the Red Bull is going to be there. Some things can change, but nowhere as much in INDYCAR.

Mid-Ohio 2018 I watched recently was Sebastien Bourdais had an issue in qualifying and started back of the field. He came back like a bullet from the gun and finished sixth just behind Scott Dixon. The race was not over. The strategy was the alternative one. He started on the black tire, went for the reds, just came back from the back. That's not something you're going to see in Formula 1 unless Mercedes qualified in the back, which never really happens. That was great to see.

Most of the races between the cautions, the pit stop, the fueling and so on, there is always options for strategy. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't really go your way. That's really something I have appreciated about it. The fact that, yes, it's never over. You may run into trouble with fuel, you may not. You may have tires going away. Because the car are quite close in performance, the field is never really spread. That's cool to see.

There's also things that I'm surprised with. Blue flags. You don't need to let by when there's a blue flag. Many times I got penalties in Formula 1 because I didn't respect the blue flags. You have five corners to let the car by, whilst in INDYCAR you can just keep racing. It's an information. It's not so much mandatory. Few things that I just need to get used to that are quite different.

Yeah, the races are really good to watch.

Q. Dale, obviously Romain has this long, extensive list of achievements in Formula 1. Being in that series for nine years along says a lot. Was there anything beyond the fact that he's this experienced Formula 1 driver when you look at what he's done and what he's accomplished that stood out to you or maybe excites you the most?

DALE COYNE: I think it's just says volumes to have the ability to stick it out over there. Being with Haas, it's not like being with Mercedes, yet he tries every weekend and gets the best he can out of his car. They say in Formula 1 you're racing your teammate. He raced his teammate. Never gave up, went at it.

Again, his attitude here. You see how he is. He's excited about being here. We're excited about having him. I think that's just a good combination, a good marriage. We can do good things with that.

Q. Are you guys committed with this driver/team relationship beyond more than one year?

DALE COYNE: We haven't committed to next year yet, but we've certainly talked about it. I think he wants to stay here and prove some stuff. Maybe we'll get him to Indianapolis next year.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Never say never (laughter).

Q. Romain, with all the other racing series that are out there, my question would be why INDYCAR? Why not something like endurance racing? Did you talk to any of the other INDYCAR drivers who are currently racing about the series before signing on with Dale?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Yeah, I did. I did. Simon Pagenaud and Marcus Ericsson were very helpful in asking questions, basically what HANS device to use to what are the good teams, what do you think, how do you deal with your hotels. Various questions. They've been great help in that aspect.

Why INDYCAR? Because I am passionate about motor racing. That's the most fun, exciting and competitive option I could think of right now. As I say, I'm super happy to be joining. Endurance is a midterm thing that I'm looking for when I'm too old for single seater. Right now I felt like I was ready to take the challenge, I wanted to do it. As I said, I'm a rookie, there's many things I need to learn and to understand.

I think the passion of racing was the number one priority in my choice.

Q. You mentioned your hand was healing well. You'll be taking part in INDYCAR testing in a few weeks. There's no power steering in INDYCAR. What in particular are you having to do with your hand to rehab it, to get full strength back?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Yeah, the strength is 90% back, which is very good. Initially the first limitation would be the ligament from my left thumb because that is just time that heals it. But I've been very gentle and followed the rules from the doctor, which is a hand specialist in Geneva I really trust. When he tells me I can do something, I do it. When he tells me not to do it, I don't do it. I think that was quite important for me to know where to put the limit. He's very confident in the ligament being good.

Really I don't see much limitation. As I say, when I wake up in the morning, the hand is quite stiff. I need to put some cream, getting it moving and so on. Some of the movements are still a bit limiting.

I shouldn't say that, but I've been on the podium in Formula 1 with a broken right hand twice (smiling). The pain goes away when you go racing. Yeah, I've been racing with broken parts. I've been on the podium. I think it was okay.

Q. Dale, you've been around INDYCAR from the beginning. This current season INDYCAR rookie lineup is impressive. Can you rank the talent compared from 2021 to back in the '90s?

DALE COYNE: I think the talent's gotten better every year. I think the teams have gotten more competitive. We're much more competitive today than we were back in the '90s. Everybody has raised their game. I think that's why it's attractive to that kind of talented driver, because the series, everyone from top to bottom, is strong now. Obviously that brings in strong drivers.

Yeah, I think the whole series is much, much stronger.

Q. Dale, I want to be clear. 51 will run the full season, you're just going to fill the ovals later?

DALE COYNE: Yes.

Q. The third car, is that going to be the Indy 500 or more than the Indy 500?

DALE COYNE: Probably more than the Indy 500. We haven't come up with exactly what we're going to do there yet. It will probably be four, five races plus the Indy 500.

Q. Is it your goal to get to a three-car team?

DALE COYNE: No. It's funny. That's an interesting question. We got to a two-car team. Back in the day we had different drivers. We got to a two-car team worried we weren't going to be a one-car team. We get to a three-car team worrying we're not going to get to a two-car team. Every year we put it together and get it done.

We're happy being a two-car team. We think we can do it well. Obviously running a third car at Indy helps the series, and you have the time there to do it. We already have the team assembled for the third car. Really strong group of guys, great group of guys. We're excited about where we are manpower-wise. Manpower is the biggest thing when you started adding cars. We're confident about what we're doing.

Q. Rick, you said Cody is going to do full-time in NASCAR, but indicated he could do some INDYCAR. He did the Rolex. Where do you see him going with his career?

RICK WARE: We're trying to just give him a well-rounded career. Obviously NASCAR is our core business. I think he's going to do a handful of races this year. We've put together the funding to do that.

We're trying to test a lot of what we can do to make sure we have a continued base of interest with sponsors, et cetera. The 24 Hour, obviously it's an off weekend in theory from all the series actually. It was really good for us social media-wise for our sponsors, television time, et cetera.

NASCAR, like all mega series, is very competitive. Sometimes we have to think outside the box how to make sure we can stay relevant for our sponsors and have a storyline.

Again, I'm a hardcore racer like Dale. I'm very excited just to be part of it. We're very serious in trying to see how maybe Cody can work into a handful of races a year, to be part of an ongoing sponsor program.

He's got a fair amount of experience on ovals. He does really well there. So there might be some potential to do a handful of those here and there throughout the year. But right now he's really looking forward to doing some testing, the road course, some INDYCARS.

One of the weekends we have on the schedule, the All-Star weekend, which is a non-points event for the Cup cars. We're just kind of looking at all that, trying to build a brand around Cody as a driver, trying to attach a sponsor to him for his ongoing career.

Q. You have an interesting entry at Daytona with Derrike Cope. I'm wondering how that came about, what you expect from that entry.

RICK WARE: So Derrike drove for me I want to say I think 2005, 6, 7 or 8. I'm not quite sure. He's driven for me in Trucks, Xfinity and Cup. We do a lot of business back and forth together. We were kind of talking. He was an older guy, obviously won the 500 years ago. He was wanting to do his final race.

Again, I think we do a good job, storylines that have some interest that we can tie into things that make sense. At Derrike's age, I would say it's tougher for him to go to Martinsville for 500 laps. To go to the Daytona 500 with the car we got from Richard Childress, an ECR motor, he has a legitimate shot to stay out of trouble and have himself a top 10.

Jacob Companies, which was our sponsor on my first Indy 500 with Dale, they're back. There is their fifth year with us. That's a perfect example of how we've kept some interest. It's something different we have to offer. Jacobs is back now. They're doing 17 primaries on the Cup side. They're going to be involved with some INDYCAR stuff as well. They were on the 24 Hours this weekend.

I say, Hey, we got a shot to have a really great storyline with a guy that's won the 500. They're all excited about it. So we partnered up Jacobs with Derrike for that race. I think it's going to be a great storyline.

That's my responsibility, whether it's my son or whether it's Romain or Derrike Cope or Haley. A lot of different storylines. We have to make sure we're relevant with the media. Every year we're trying to grow our team and the quality of our team. It's very competitive so we have to take baby steps.

Q. Romain, it's been mentioned making the jump from Formula 1 to another racing entity has helped certain drivers, Kevin Magnussen. Are you hoping to have going into the INDYCAR campaign?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: I spoke with Kevin yesterday morning. I think we exchanged. He was super enthusiastic and super happy about his experience in the Rolex 24. He also showed his speed. They had the speed to win the race. It showed, again, Formula 1, if you don't have the car, you just can't do anything.

Yes, I'm excited to come to the U.S., discover a new world, a different world of racing, but a world where you stand on the same chance to win the race.

Q. Rick, what is the one thing that over the past few years Cody has grown from a competitor? Does running the multiple disciplines, like Asian Le Mans, help him realize his confidence level?

RICK WARE: Yeah, I think every driver has their strengths and weaknesses. You'd like to think there's some core talent there. I believe there is. There's a lot of drivers that have core talent.

His biggest issue probably has come up through a racing family is having to preserve equipment, the mental aspect of not being able to race like he would like to race. The Asian Le Mans definitely gave him some experience and confidence.

He loves road racing and so do I. It is definitely harder to make a living doing that from a business model just because of the amount of television time, the sponsor you can attain, then the prize money. It's an issue.

We try to do that as much as possible. We had an invite to Le Mans last year. Cody was going to be one of the drivers. But with the COVID, they were going to cancel, pushed it back to September, so it wasn't even an option for us because we were running so many NASCAR races. It's given him a lot of confidence.

It's also making him a better driver, learning how to do different disciplines. It's amazing just how I see how he takes that to different levels.

We did a test with Dale in INDYCAR. It was kind of amazing just how he took different things from that. It definitely elevated him in the LLP2 car this past weekend. We had a (indiscernible), which is a lot slower car, straight line. He had some good teammates. It just made him a better driver.

So we're looking forward to doing more of that. Every bit of it makes it better now with NASCAR, having seven road course races, including going to COTA, where the F1 guys have been, INDYCARS have been. He is even more excited about that because he loves the road racing.

The racer in me, we just finished the 24, kind of thinks about if I can talk Uncle Dale to get involved, we get Romain, Ed Jones, we could have a heck of a lineup at the 24 Hours next year.

Anything is possible. But, yes, as far as Cody goes, I'm excited for him, just to see him grow, for sure.

Q. Romain, when you were first released from F1, were looking for a new drive, you said you were only motivated by joining a competitive team. At the point after Bahrain where you were looking at the contract, in what way you wanted to go forward, how much did the competitiveness of Dale Coyne Racing matter as a factor in terms of not having to justify going to it but in motivating you to?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: Again, I know if you compare maybe the Penske or Team Ganassi, Dale Coyne Racing is a small team. Again, it doesn't mean that you cannot compete at the front.

I think I need to learn how INDYCAR works. We need to learn to work together. I'm not going into race one thinking I've done 10 years in Formula 1, I'm going to win that easy. No. I need to learn. Drivers there have been running for many years, they're very competitive.

But the car are pretty much the same, apart from the dampers. It's up to setting it up and getting the right relationship with the engineer and driving it.

I think we can be competitive. I am not coming just to be entering INDYCAR. That is definitely not my option. But also I'm entering knowing that I've got many things to learn. Let's see where that brings us. We're ready to tackle the challenge and to learn as fast as we can.

But as I say, I've been watching many races. The team has done very well last year with some rookies, so I'm hopeful that we can repeat that or even top up a little bit on top.

Q. Dale, Romain mentioned that February 27th was going to be the first test. Where is that going to be? How many times do you think you'll get him in a car before the season starts?

DALE COYNE: It's actually the 22nd of February. We're at Barber. A week later we're at Laguna. Looks like we're going to have four testing days scheduled before the first race at Barber, four road course tests. That's good. We got that and some simulator work that's going to be coming up. I think all that will get him ready.

Q. Rick, I want to clarify something you said earlier. Maybe I misheard you. I thought you said this was a business deal and that there was a corporate sponsor as part of this deal. I didn't see that announced. Did I miss something or did I mishear you?

RICK WARE: I think we're probably a week or two away for announcing that because we have sponsorships for both the 51 and the 52. You have to understand that Romain has been I wouldn't say first choice because it's really kind of our only choice or decision that we're having to wait. You can imagine trying to sell a sponsor at this level without being able to say who the driver is.

First and foremost from the business standpoint, we needed to make sure we had Romain on. Now we're going to put together the pieces of the puzzle. There are going to be sponsors tied to our NASCAR scenario. We're going to be leveraging some of these INDYCAR sponsors to cross over into the NASCAR.

I think we're probably a week or two away from that announcement.

Q. Rick, you mentioned Cody has an interest in maybe trying INDYCAR. I believe he may have tested last week with Dale on a road course at Sebring. You said he likes road course racing. If Romain isn't going to do the ovals, would he do an oval race and fill in for Romain or would he try to do a road race?

RICK WARE: We've talked about that. Again, Dale has probably literally run more rookies than anyone in the garage, right? We're discussing that. I'm kind of leaving that up to Dale for the final decision.

Cody has a lot of oval track experience. Obviously he's never been an on oval track in an INDYCAR. Dale has taken a lot of guys to oval tracks for the first time in INDYCAR. So for me, I have full confidence in Dale. I think it's just a matter of what makes the most sense.

Again, we want to make sure if Romain changed his mind that we were prepared for that, right? The Indy 500 is a big scenario.

We're prepared to fill in the gap if we need to. But I think that's really going to be some conversation with me and Dale, ultimately with Dale, kind of where all the sponsors see fit.

We would be excited to do that if that opportunity makes sense.

Q. Romain, I wanted to ask you about the TV coverage of INDYCAR in France, the Internet coverage in France in French language. Do you see a lot written about champions like Simon and Sebastien? Can you add to that? Do you see it blossoming in years to come thanks to your participation?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: I hope so. I think the channel that does Formula 1 does INDYCAR in France, as well. It's a pay TV. It's always going to limit your viewers. But they are doing most of motorsports. Obviously Simon, after the Indianapolis 500 was a big thing. One of the top four races in the world. That was big.

Yeah, obviously we can get people involved. I think with the social media, we mentioned the YouTube channel, some of the tools we have we can reach out to a big audience.

I think we should have some good viewings. I'm hopeful that we can make INDYCAR even more known in Europe. It's a very American-based series, but I'm sure if we are competitive people will follow.

Q. Dale and Rick, how hard is it to sell to a company, a business, to sponsor your car with a Frenchman compared with an American, those barriers being knocked down? Is it just all about talent, they just want to see their names running up front and it doesn't matter who's in the car?

DALE COYNE: I think it's about talent. Romain coming here kind of reminds me when Nigel Mansell came here. He wasn't American. He lit the world on fire over here. People want to see results. They want to have a driver they can cheer for, somebody who is a good spokesman for them, a driver that has results.

Numbers don't lie. If you can finish towards the top, I think it gets you what you need.

Q. Rick, do you share those views?

RICK WARE: Yes, I absolutely share those. Again, it still takes dollars to make all this happen. Romain is in a unique category. Nigel is probably a perfect example of that kind of person that came over and raced. Using Nigel as an example, he was technically a foreigner, but he was sponsored by Kmart. At the end of the day Kmart got a lot of coverage.

Things are a little bit different now. Again, like you're talking about with television, the value of social media, the things kind of behind the scenes. Again, me and Dale are racers. First off, we got a racer in our car. But we can work around. We don't necessarily have to be selling hot dogs and hamburgers. Social media is so important.

Again, we leveraged that this past weekend at Daytona. That's where we're going to get the by-product of having a true professional. Just a great guy, great storyline, a great race driver.

At the end of the day people want to see people go fast. People want to see people passing people. For sure I think we have that person. So that's going to sell for us.

Q. Romain, coming into INDYCAR, a lot of time a lot of people see the fan-friendly aspect of INDYCAR. Drivers are accessible to the fans. How exciting is it for some of these new areas, potentially being able to interact with the fans, especially American race fans?

ROMAIN GROSJEAN: It's super exciting. I don't know much of the U.S. As surprisingly as it is I've been traveling around the world a lot. The first time I came to New York in my life was 2018, whereas I've been pretty much every else. I know a little bit New York, obviously Austin, a little bit Los Angeles. Nothing really outside of that.

I'm super excited to discover new places. With the jet lag anyway, I will need to come quite early on the races to get used to that. It's going to be a great opportunity to discover something new, as you say, to discover new paddocks as well where you don't need a very complicated pass to enter, and you can have interaction with the fans, open paddock sharing with the drivers and sharing passion.

If you come to see a racetrack, it's because you're passionate about racecars. If you're drivers, you're passionate about racing cars. We have many, many things to share.

THE MODERATOR: That is a good point, Romain. The credentials we have don't have the chip in it. It's a little easier to get into the paddock. You'll look forward to seeing that.

A lot of wonderful stories of Formula 1 drivers coming overseas and transitioning to INDYCAR. We welcome you, can't wait to see you at the test here in a couple weeks. Congratulations, Dale and Rick. That season opener Barber Motorsports Park is going to be here before we know it on April 18th.

Thank you, everyone, for joining us.
[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

Romain Grosjean observes that F1 cars are much faster, but maybe it's the constant speeds INDYCARS travel throughout the duration of a superspeedway oval racing event - jus' sayin'. After all, this is what caused Mike Conway to tap out.

It is hard to become, as a fan of INDYCAR, overly excited about a driver who comes in less than excited to tackle the entire challenge the NTT INDYCAR SERIES represents to the world of Motor Culture and Motorsports overall, no matter the personal concerns (see Scott Dixon). 

We will just have to wait to see if he might "get it" and catch the INDYCAR racing bug.

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne, Rick Ware, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Super Speedway, Ovals, The EDJE

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

Ed Jones discusses the finer points of tackling the oval track at IMS during the INDY500 session activity in 2018. Ed qualified his Ganassi Racing No. 10 NTT Data Honda at P29 and ended his run on Lap 57 when he lost control in Turn 2 having him listed as finishing P30. Image Credit: EJR Facebook Page (2018)


Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

People love to speculate, "What would it have been like if ..." when looking over the arch of a driving career and the relationships garnered along the way.

Well, with British/UAE driver Ed Jones back on the Dale Coyne Racing paddock with Jimmy Vasser calling signals in the box, in 2021 fans may see the culmination of experiences in the side trips to Ganassi Racing with Dario Franchitti in the team coaching role, and Ed Carpenter and his long association with the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One can not wait for what the second chapter in this Coyne/Jones union, sponsored through SealMaster, will garner to this 17 race season.

All on the team believe that Podiums are the intended goal and all believe they have the experience to deliver on this goal.


NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Dale Coyne - Dale Coyne Racing
Jimmy Vasser - Vasser Sullivan Racing
Ed Jones - Driver, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan, No. 18 SealMaster Honda

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning to everyone, first and foremost. Certainly glad you could join us for a huge announcement from Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan. We'll begin with some introductions.

Dale Coyne is set to begin, we did the math, his 38th year in INDYCAR competition. The former driver, now long time owner of Dale Coyne Racing. Jimmy Vasser is on the phone, former INDYCAR Series champ, turned team owner, winner of the 2013 Indianapolis with than Tony Kanaan as a driver. Fourth season in his partnership with Dale Coyne. Great to see Ed Jones returning to the NTT INDYCAR Series, announcing earlier this morning that Ed will be the driver of the No. 18 Team SealMaster Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda during the 2021 season. Ed, of course, 2017 Rookie of the Year in the series, 2016 Indy Lights champion, a total of 47 starts in the NTT INDYCAR Series with 14 top-10 finishes.

We'll begin with Dale. Congratulations. A reunion of sorts. How good is it to have Ed back?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy to have Ed back. We were happy with him a couple years ago when he drove for us. He didn't put an asterisk by that third at Indy. He had a hole in the nose of his car. He touched somebody's gearbox, put a hole in the nose of his car. We couldn't figure out why he was so quick in the corners and slow in the straights. It turned out it was a drag penalty for that hole, otherwise he might have been two positions higher, which really would have been something.

But, no, Ed is a great friend of the team. My wife, myself, we all get along really well. So we're very happy to have him back. As I told Ed when we were talking about all this, we both have unfinished business. We're very much looking forward to a competitive year.

THE MODERATOR: That might be the theme for you in 2021 for sure.

We'll move to Ed right now. 2020, as you know, was different for all of us in so many ways. Different for you, too, without a ride. How did you pass the time last year and how excited are you to be back in the NTT INDYCAR Series?

ED JONES: First of all, it's great to be back. As you said, 2020 was different for everyone. Unfortunately the ride that I had fell through with COVID there. So it was a different year for me a year where I didn't do very much driving.

One side of that was a negative, on the other it was a good time to reflect on things, get recharged. I actually did a lot of sim racing.

I've been back not in the INDYCAR but in some other cars the last few weeks. Feel as good as ever. It's really been fantastic to join up with Dale again, with Vasser Sullivan this time. As Dale said, we have unfinished business. Had a really strong rookie year. Just really looking forward to hitting the floor running, getting back to the standard that we were at.

THE MODERATOR: Do you care to get into how all this came about?

ED JONES: I've always kept in contact with Dale. I've been fortunate where I have a good relationship with pretty much everyone in the paddock, and I'm able to talk to people quite often.

After the year out, I knew I really wanted to be back in INDYCAR. I was talking to Dale, seeing what we could figure out. Things took quite a bit of time. It all came through in the end. That's what's important.

As Dale said, we've had a great relationship. I know a lot of the guys at the team already. Having that extra partnership of Vasser Sullivan, continuing their success, is something I'm really excited to get going with.

THE MODERATOR: Jimmy, what could Ed do for your race team during 2021?

JIMMY VASSER: He's going to jump back where he left off with his consistency. You look at his numbers, 30% of his INDYCAR starts have been in the top 10. So he's a finisher, and he's consistent.

I think also he gives us a chance to fight for the Indy 500. Three starts, third and a sixth. In my opinion, should have been Rookie of the Year at the 500, but that's a whole 'nother story.

DALE COYNE: Co-rookie.

JIMMY VASSER: Right.

We're excited and energized for the 500, what he can bring. Again, just echo what I said about his consistency. I can tell you all our stakeholders and partners are really stoked to have Ed coming onboard. This is going to be good.

Dale, you might have mentioned there's some unfinished business there. The cars particularly on the ovals have proven to be very quick, so we're excited.


THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up for questions.

Q. Ed, they talked about your experience, your expertise, your engineering background. Also returning to this team there's got to be the comfort level. You've worked with these guys before. How important is that comfort level coming back to the team?

ED JONES: Yeah, for sure. Although I had two full seasons in INDYCAR, it was with different teams every year. It's always hard to keep some consistency there. So it's really nice to go back to Dale. As I said, I'm familiar with the team and all the guys there. It should help a lot getting back into things. I've already been in contact with everyone. I'm just really looking forward to that.

It's a different dynamic to what I've had in the past, as I said. Changing teams every year hasn't been ideal, something which I think should be positive going forward.

Q. According to the release today, it said that last year there were issues with traveling because of the COVID situation. Was that from the Dubai standpoint or in Europe?

ED JONES: Well, last year I was meant to race in DTM. Every series in the world, everything in the world, got delayed. The partners I had there weren't so keen after what was going on, so that was the reason why I didn't participate in that last year.

That was the time when I started thinking about INDYCAR, how we could get back into that. Yeah, it was frustrating. As I said, it was frustrating for everyone. You had to deal with it, work on yourself, see how you can make yourself better to be racing again in INDYCAR.

Q. Dale, I'll spin the comfort level question around from your end. How comforting is it to get a guy back like Ed that you've worked with before because you already have an idea what he can do, how he interacts with the team?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy about him. He has a new engineer this year, Ross Bunnell, who has been with us, worked with him before. They like each other, know each other from the past.

Ross was actually ready to move up as an engineer last year. We held him for one more year. He's really ready for the challenge. He is a diamond in the rough. He's going to be a great engineer.

What Ed is really going to enjoy is having Jimmy Vasser in his ear on the radio. Jimmy keeps you pretty pumped up there, so it will be good.

Q. What can you tell us about the status of the 19?

DALE COYNE: We hope to announce our other driver next week.

Q. Ed, after the DTM ride fell through, what did you do all year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I didn't race. I did a few different things. Actually went back to studying, did some MIT courses, which was a bit different for me (smiling).

Otherwise, the only racing I did last year was at Goodwood, racing in the Goodwood Revival, in an AC Cobra. Very different to an INDYCAR. What I also was doing was a lot of sim racing. Although it's not the same, a lot of the drivers are very competitive on there. It was good to keep sharp.

As I said, once I got back in the car finally, I felt like I was right back there. I didn't feel like I'd been away. Although it wasn't ideal, I did the most I could to keep ready and keep fit. I think it will put me in good stead for when I get back in the INDYCAR next month.

Q. Can you tell me more about the studying you did.

ED JONES: Yeah, so I did artificial intelligence, digital business management. It was different. I hadn't studied for 10 years, so it was just something I wanted to do to keep myself busy and learn something new. Probably not what other drivers did, but yeah.

Q. Did you say you did this through MIT?

ED JONES: Yeah, I did. It was online courses.

Q. What did you learn?

ED JONES: Artificial intelligence, about how businesses and companies use it to take advantage of big data. Yeah, very different to what I need for racing, but something I was always interested in, how things are evolving.

On one thing with the data, it's something you can use into motorsport, maybe not from a driver perspective, but with data on handling how you use testing the car and things like that. Through simulation, as well.

It's something which can be beneficial in the future, and something which maybe isn't really important for me now, but something I could use in times to come.

Q. Ed, you mentioned from being almost out of the car entirely, in any car entirely in 2020, to going to kind of a leadership role or presumed leadership role with Dale Coyne Racing this year. Do you feel there are any adjustments or a learning curve you'll have to make specifically with a little bit new car with the Aeroscreen that we have, just a somewhat new role, similar to what you had been doing earlier in your career, hopping from team to team previously?

ED JONES: Yeah, it is different. But I'm fortunate that I have the team around me which is going to allow me to make everything work. I don't feel fazed at all by what is going to happen. I feel confident we're going to be strong from the get-go.

Although it's different circumstances in '17 when Seb had his injury, I had to kind of take lead of the team for a while then. Obviously it's different now, but not something which I haven't done in the past. Even in junior categories, I had to take the lead role quite often.

No, I'm looking forward to it. A new challenge. As I said, I'm happy that I have the Dale Coyne guys. Jimmy Vasser there will be a great addition. The experience from him will help me fast track everything I need to do. Yeah, hope that we can get it done.

Q. Beyond the familiarity you have with this team, with Dale specifically, what excites you the most or what helped push you toward saying yes to this? Obviously a racing driver wants to be in the car as much as possible, and this was an opportunity to do that. Beyond the ability to get back to the INDYCAR Series, the familiarity you already have, what is the biggest excitement for you?

ED JONES: Yeah, so for me there was many options in different categories to race in this year. The way 2019 went for me was really disappointing, my last year in INDYCAR at the moment. It bugged me. I knew it didn't reflect what level I could compete at. There's a lot of young guys in there doing well, and I beat most of them in junior categories, things like that. I know what level I'm at. I know it didn't reflect that. I knew I needed to get back to INDYCAR, prove what I can do.

That's exactly the reason why I pursued this so hard. In a way I was very frustrated about it. For that reason I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to get back and really give it everything.

As you said in 2017 we had a good run going, but you can't just think of it like that, that it's going to be all great again. You've got to put in the work. I'm going to make sure I get the team around me and do everything we can to make that happen.

Q. Dale, after the 2017 season you left the season finale feeling like you were going to be returning and working with Ed for at least another year, had a handshake agreement that fell apart. You said you always stayed in touch. Doesn't sound like there was necessarily any bad blood or anything you had to work out in order to make this deal possible for this year.

DALE COYNE: No, I mean, we lost Ed to Ganassi. Last year we lost Alex to Ganassi. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. People come to our team and want to prove themselves. Obviously everybody wants to drive for Penske or Ganassi. If they can do a nice job with us and move up, that's good for us. That's not bad for us. That's good for us.

We understood what he did, why he did it. It's business. Like I say, we did remain friends through all that. Here we are back together again.

Q. Dale, obviously the guy who Ed is replacing, Santino, one of his strengths was ovals, probably his main strength. Ed has not raced ovals other than the 500 since 2018. Are you confident that you can get Ed performing as well as you did Santino?

DALE COYNE: Yes. I think Santino was a very good racer on the ovals, maybe not as good a qualifier. I think Ed is the same way. I think Ed is a very good racer on the ovals.

We have worked very hard on our 500 cars every year. We've arguably been the fastest Honda the last four years, given a couple situations here or there. I think we've got a good car for Indy. Ed showed he can qualify well with Carpenter there and race well. I think Indy, very much looking forward to Indianapolis.

Q. Ed, are you confident about getting back into the swing of it, especially now that this is your first time with the Aeroscreen on an oval?

ED JONES: Yeah. I feel like I've always been strong on ovals, short ovals especially. To be honest, if I could race INDYCAR ovals every weekend, that would be my dream thing (smiling). It's something which I love to do.

Although the windscreen is different, it's just one of the things you've got to get used to. I changed from old aero kits to the new aero kit. It's not a problem. Just something you have to adapt to and it won't be an issue.

Q. Lack of testing available isn't a worry for you?

ED JONES: Well, I'm pretty sure everyone else gets the same amount. I should be fine. Although I didn't drive last year, I still feel sharp. People came out from longer breaks in the past and get back on it. Yeah, I have no worries about that.

The most important thing is we work well together as a team. I'm confident we can do that. As long as we have that sorted, two days, three days, it will be enough.

DALE COYNE: The other teams went out to Barber for a day and Sebring for a day. I think we've got our three days. INDYCAR moved the window a little later so we're able to do those three days now with the drivers that drive for us. We'll get our second driver done, then we'll get out testing three days February and get our testing done in a hurry.

Wheels up across the rumble strips that define the inside of Turn 5 of the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Here in his first year in IndyCar, he is driving the Dale Coyne No. 19 Boy Scouts Of America sponsored Dallara Honda where he qualified 13th and finished the race at P6. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Q. Ed, you came in 2017 as a 20-year-old. How have you grown since that point and how do you think that will help you this year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I think, as you said, when I came in in 2017, I was still very new to everything in America. I had two years in Indy Lights which went well. But, yeah, you learn so much through the early years in INDYCAR.

As I was saying, yeah, as a rookie in the first two years you can always put in some very good results, but it's very hard to be consistently at the front. That comes with experience.

Yeah, I had seasons where maybe the success/reward didn't go so well and it didn't work out. Now I've learned from that. I feel like that although the year out isn't ideal, I feel I've also progressed in many ways. I think that I can come back stronger and have a better shot at racing.

Q. Jimmy, this is your third or fourth season now with Dale. What is it about partnering up with him that you guys enjoy?

JIMMY VASSER: We're like minded. This will be our fourth year, by the way. Dale has been in for 38 years I guess is the number, right? We like that Dale is always going to be here.

I think we really complement each other as two organizations. It takes a village. It's so difficult to try to fight the Penskes and Ganassis and Andrettis of the world, all the way down through the paddock these days, it's so hard. We're able to pool all of our resources and pull against the rope together.

I think we've shown going into our fourth season that it has given success.

British race team Carlin's United Arab Emirates driver Ed Jones negotiates Turn 4 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Jones was currently sitting at P3 in the IndyLights season points championship where he ended the 2015 season - he did lead the most laps and won the 2015 TGPLB IndyLights race ahead of the Pole Award winner, Jack Harvey. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Q. Ed, obviously you know the team from the past. I guess you kind of know INDYCAR well enough now. What kind of expectations do you go in with this year specifically? Have you set specific goals for yourself in terms of wins, podiums, top 10s or anything like that? What would you be happy with at the end of 2021?

ED JONES: We haven't set targets exactly. But you always go out there because you want to win. The competition is very tough. I think the driver level is the toughest it's ever been. The level of the teams is extremely high. I'm really confident that we'll put things together, we can finish on the podium. Ultimately we want to win the Indy 500.

Again, INDYCAR is so tough now that to get a win, you've got to have everything right. It's all about pulling up all those different aspects. The team has had some great success in the SealMaster car.

I remember the first year they ran that livery in 2018, I had just left the team, Seb was running at St. Pete, they won the race. I thought that is the (indiscernible) car and something I want to drive in the future.

The addition of the guys with Jimmy there, the experience he brings, I really want to target to get back up to speed immediately. As I said, it's very tough. Top 10s from the beginning would be great, but then you want to progress up to the podium again, ultimately fight for wins.

I know it's a tough path, a tough ask, but I really believe that as a team, together we can challenge for that.

Q. Dale, I've got to be the unpopular guy and ask the difficult question. There's a lot of talk about Romain Grosjean being linked to your team for next season. You said you're hoping to announce your driver next week. Can you say if there's any mutual interest there or if you're speaking to Romain, if you're interested in him for this season?

DALE COYNE: You all could make a list of a hundred drivers, we've talked to probably every one of them this winter. Employed, unemployed, America, Europe, every country. It's been kind of amazing.

Obviously Romain is a good driver. We'd love to have him. We're working on a few other ones as well. Hopefully we get all that buttoned up and make an announcement next week and then get out to testing in February.

Q. Ed, it's been sort of talked about briefly within this chat, but your relationship with Jimmy Vasser, how far back does that go? How did it kind of come about? How do you two work together so well?

ED JONES: Yeah, so I haven't worked with Jimmy in the past. Ever since my rookie year, Jimmy was always there. We would have a chat here and there.

It's great when you have a lot of respect for the past champions and guys that have done amazing in INDYCAR before. So I've always respected him, always tried to learn little things here and there, what I can.

I'm really excited to take it to the next level, really draw from that experience. He will be a great addition to have on the stand for me.

Q. Jimmy, Ed had kind of mentioned getting up to speed. What are you going to have to do to help Ed get back up to the speed, especially on ovals?

JIMMY VASSER: I don't expect any real delay. Watching Ed while we were around a bit in '17, then competing against him the following two years, just being a driver and knowing he hasn't been out of the car not that long for a young man like that. I fully expect him to jump in and find his pace pretty much immediately. There's no concerns on my end it's going to take him any time to get back up to speed.

As far as the ovals go, we're going to have a doubleheader at Texas. Some of these tracks, Indianapolis, we're going to be there for so long. Looking at St. Louis. It's really not an oval-centric series like it used to be.

I don't have any concerns either on the ovals or the road, street circuits, there's not going to be any more learning curves.


@29:11
Q. Ed, you're coming into a whole new series, new ownership, new ownership of the IMS track, new car. You've been through an interesting road. What do you think you've learned over the past couple years at INDYCAR, the types of people that you've met, that you can bring forward to 2021?

ED JONES: Yeah, as you said, it's been an interesting ride so far. Probably not the most ideal. Because of that I've learned a huge amount. I've had some great experiences with teams and some not-so-great.

What I learned the most is it's all about who you have around you in the team. That is the most critical part. The most important part I've learned so far is having people around you which you can really trust, people that are there trying to back you. If you don't have that in a team, it's going to be really hard for you to succeed.

Yeah, I feel really comfortable with the guys that we have on the 18 car, which gives you confidence. The experience I learned. Also it's key to find the right people. The engineers we have, Ross, a great addition to the team, somebody I'm really confident in. All those people around you, it's going to make this work. That's probably the biggest thing I've taken from the few years I've had.

Again, you learn so many things in the racing. Everyone keeps on bringing up the oval aspect, getting up to speed. For me, it's not about that this year. I'm not here to try and take time to get up to speed, I've not come back for that reason, or have any excuse like that. I want to be there and be straight on it from the get-go and back like I've never left. That's really important for me. That's my target. I'm looking forward to getting after it.

Q. Jimmy Vasser, he's good at ovals, so on. Is there anything specific you see in Ed that you can bring forward talking to him from the box?

JIMMY VASSER: We're going to find out, right? As I mentioned earlier, Ed has shown consistency. He's a finisher. That's the most important thing. From there, hopefully working with Ross and Michael Cox as a junior engineer that was on the team last year, who is a very bright kid, with Isaac Townsend being promoted in the team up to crew chief working real close with Todd, we got to put together a nice, tight little group, keep it in the box, give Ed a good car that he has shown what he can do good.

He's a pretty methodical driver. If we can be there and then put ourselves in a position to take opportunities, try to make the right calls strategically, then I think we can, like Ed said, just find ourself in the top 10, then let's kind of put ourselves to get in a position to get on the podium, then who knows. From there, things can happen and you can win a race.

So I hate to be cliché about it, but you got to take it one race at a time, one session at a time, really just hone in on keeping it as simple as you can really, not make mistakes.

I'm going to say it again, Ed said it, I don't anticipate any getting used to the new car, the Aeroscreen. We've seen with the other drivers just jumping in. Ed is going to be right on the pace, at least match the pace of the car, what it's capable of, in my mind the first days.

Q. Dale Coyne, it seems like you almost have a potential tiger by the tail with Jones and Vasser together. How do you see it? Where do you involve yourself?

DALE COYNE: Jimmy and Sulli, Sulli is in the air right now or he'd been on here, he's flying from Texas to Daytona. We talked about drivers. Santino has gone off in the NASCAR or Xfinity. Ed was a natural choice for both of us. We looked at who was out there, who was available. My relationship with Ed, we knew his background, what he could do.

I think Ed is going to have a really nice environment there, with the people around him, chief mechanic, Jimmy in his ear. I think it's all going to gel very nicely.

This is all about making that team work. It's not just the driver. The driver is the most important cog for sure. But giving him a good car, having a good team around him, trying to get podiums. Wins are hard to get, but we can get them. That's the goal.

Q. Jimmy, the Rolex is this weekend. How do you feel going into the Rolex? You and Sulli have sort of branched out, doing your own thing this year. What are Lexus' expectations for you? If you can talk about Zach Veach, the enjoyment he's had so far.

JIMMY VASSER: Expectations are we're here to win the 24. Sorry to say, that, Ed. We're competing against Ed in the GTD class. We're going to kick your butt, Ed.

We have branched out, but the team very much looks and feels the same as it had last year with our past partners. But we've stepped it up in our minds with some personnel, engineering, and the driver lineup.

Having said that, it leads me to Zach Veach. He's done three test days in the car. He's really embraced working on the simulator and kind of trying to adapt to the ABS system in the car. I haven't driven it, but it seems to be something that is tough to get used to for drivers.

On the radio, on the in-lap from the qualifier race, he came on the radio and said that was the most fun he's ever had. He's really looking forward to the series. He seems really enlightened and extremely happy. That kind of energy, you know, it trickles down through the whole team. It's infectious. Hopefully that will help keep things light around here and we can deliver not only for the team but Lexus and all the stakeholders in the team.

Q. Jimmy, do you think both your entries are championship contenders?

JIMMY VASSER: Yeah, I do. I do. Although the 14 is very, very strong. We're going to see how Zach, leading the full season as the professional in the 12 car. With Frankie I think he's shown that he's able to win races and get podiums.

We expect between the two cars they should vie for the championship and more importantly we're well positioned with the two cars to get the manufacturers championship for Lexus.

Q. Just wanted to ask about SealMaster. Everyone who watches the races on TV appreciate having such an eye-catching design amongst all the red, whites and blues out there. How do you feel they have kept faith in terms of what they get out of it? You started a relationship with a huge bang with the win at St. Pete. What have they seen has been the value for INDYCAR racing over subsequent seasons?

JIMMY VASSER: First of all, they're a great partner, a very successful program for them. It's based around the franchisees. They get a tremendous amount of value from our media partners in Spectrum. They also activate, although they couldn't, they a few of the franchisees were able to come at Road America.

They understood while last year was the pandemic and they weren't able to do as much, but they're looking forward to things lightening up a bit this year and resuming what they did in prior years.

I think Dale will remember and a lot of people would, there were 110 franchisees that came to St. Pete when we won that first race. When you can give that kind of an experience for them, it's in their blood, you could probably ask anyone, when you bring somebody to an INDYCAR race, you can smell it and feel it and hear it, you get hooked.

They are a great partner, but they're very, very happy with how things are going. Their leadership ironically, too, a bit of an Ed Jones fan. We were really happy about that. Double thumbs up when we let them know who our new driver was going to be. We're really, really looking forward to getting this thing rolling and getting back to business, as usual.

DALE COYNE: There's a lot of nice parking lots and Sonny's Barbecue in Florida (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Our buddy Asher has chimed in. He has one question for Ed. Go ahead, Asher.

Q. Ed, you were champion in the SealMaster car after some great drivers including Sebastien Bourdais and Santino Ferrucci. How excited are you to be driving that car after all those good drivers?

ED JONES: Yeah, well. First of all, thanks for the question.

It's fantastic to be driving that car. As I said, the first time I saw it was the year after I left Dale the first time. Sebastien had won that race at St. Petersburg. The car looked awesome then. It's looked amazing ever since.

It's always one of the cars when you're on track, you see it. You're like, That looks good. I'm really excited to be there. They've had some great success over four years. Really hoping I can add to that.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everyone. Good to see good people return to the NTT INDYCAR Series. Dale, Jimmy, Ed. Our congratulations to Sulli, as well. Looking forward to seeing the No. 18 team's SealMaster Honda at the opener April 18th, Barber Motorsports Park.

Thanks to everyone. Have a great day.
[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: SealMaster, No.18 SealMaster Honda, Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing, Vasser Sullivan Racing, 2021, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Dale Coyne, Jimmy Vasser, Ed Jones, The EDJE

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Mayor Of Hinchtown Brings Andretti Autosport & Genesys Back To The City Council

Mayor Of Hinchtown, James Hinchcliffe presses the accelerator pedal to the floor of his then No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Petersen Honda out of the Turn 11 Hairpin on to Shoreline Drive straightaway. James Hinchcliffe leads Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti early in the 2017 Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach race before all Andretti Autosport cars retire with problems by the race's end. The Mayor went on to win the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach . Image Credit: Myles Regan (2017)


Mayor Of Hinchtown Brings Andretti Autosport & Genesys Back To The City Council

For 2021, James Hinchcliffe, the Mayor of Hinchtown, has agreed to have Andretti Autosport and Genesys support his quest of another NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship season ... he has decided to place them on the city council for 2021.

Genesys will be the primary sponsor for 10 of the 17 races of the 2021 season that begins April 18th at the road course of Barber Motorsports Park and ends, unusually, at Long Beach, California for the Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach, September 26th, 2021.

Welcome to the world of Hinchtown. 


NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Michael Andretti - Andretti Autosport
James Hinchcliffe - Driver, No. 29 Genesys Honda
Joyce Kim - Genesys

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Great to see everyone here this afternoon. A very special announcement for Andretti Autosport.

Let's start with some introductions, shall we? Joining us today is Michael Andretti, CEO and chairman of Andretti Autosport. Joyce Kim is here, as well, the chief marketing officer of Genesys. Set to begin his 11th season in the NTT INDYCAR Series, great to see James Hinchcliffe here today as well.

In case you missed it, announced just moments ago, James will be back with Andretti Autosport driving the No. 29 Honda with Genesys orange on the car for 10 races throughout the upcoming 2021 season, including the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. You may remember Hinch and Genesys were on one of four Andretti Autosport entries to get into the Firestone Fast Nine during qualifying for the Indy 500 last year. They are back in a big, big way in 2021.

We'll start with Michael. Congratulations. How satisfying is it to get Hinch locked up for the upcoming season?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, we're really excited. Having Hinch back in the family has been great. He did a few races for us last year. It was like having him come back home. Just gets along with everybody performs really well. We're excited to get to be able to announce this deal.

We're happy to have Genesys back with us as well. They've been great to work with. It's so fun to work with a company that is so excited about the sport and is getting behind it. We thank them.

It's really a great announcement today. We're really happy.

THE MODERATOR: We welcome in Joyce Kim, chief marketing officer for Genesys. Anyone that was in Indy last August saw the commitment that was made for James in the 500, signage at every turn, all sorts of activation. Genesys is a global leader in cloud customer experience and contact solutions.

Joyce, how did your experience last summer lead to this?

JOYCE KIM: Yeah, thank you. We're so excited to continue our partnership with James and Andretti Autosport. I mean, as you guys know, last year, sort of our first time into the racing arena, and I think the only thing that would have made it better than it was if we could be there in person instead of virtually cheering the team on.

We're really proud to continue this and deepen our roots in the Indy community, which for those who don't know is the largest footprint of our employee base around the world. Given Indianapolis and racing are sort of synonymous, we're really happy to continue this partnership again.

I think a lot of people have asked me why are you guys doing Indy 500. It sort of ties back to our business. We are in awe of sort of the amount of data and real-time things that are required, the split-second decisions that the drivers and the pit crews and everyone has to make. I kind of liken it to what we do for our customers at Genesys with customer experience, the data, the artificial intelligence, predictive capabilities.

It's all about the team, empowering with technology and data. We're really just honored to be a part of this. I can't wait to watch James and Andretti Autosport flying around the track in our Genesys orange No. 29 Honda. Hopefully this year we'll be able to be in person.

Thank you again. We're really glad to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Joyce, you mentioned it, deep ties to Indianapolis. This is a global brand, though. You threw it all into one pot that makes this partnership all the more stronger really. Very high level for your company.

JOYCE KIM: Absolutely. Like we said, I think Indianapolis continues to grow for us. It's not only our employees, but a lot of our customer base is there, as well. We're all in sort of continuing to activate and so forth.

We'll see sort of how we do it this year, given where the pandemic and so forth is. But, yeah, it's a very strong partnership. We couldn't be happier.

THE MODERATOR: James, full-time program with a team that you're certainly very familiar with, a sponsor you've become familiar with over the last year. How special is this day for you?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I mean, it's a dream come true in so many ways. It's a culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people certainly. I love telling the story, we talked a lot about this last year when we did our three-race deal. It was two months from an Instagram message to signing a deal with Genesys. For a company to move that quickly in this kind of program was unbelievable. They took it a step further by sponsoring the race in Texas. You talked about all the activation on the 500. Now to jump up with a 10-race deal, it's incredible.

It just shows the commitment they're willing to give, the faith they have in us and this program. We're so proud to be partnered with them.

To be back full-time, as Michael said earlier, it's kind of like a homecoming. This team has been like family to me since I joined the first time back in 2012. We always said we'd get the band back together.

We did like a little reunion tour last year, but now we're fully back together. For me with Genesys onboard, being with Andretti Autosport, it's just incredible.


THE MODERATOR: We'll take some questions.

Q. James, your expectations coming in. Obviously last year was a little bit of a weird year for you in terms of stepping back from full-time competition, refocusing, different kind of goals than what you would have had if you had a full-time schedule. What are you aiming for this year? If we transform to the end of the year, what would you be happy with? Race wins, podiums, fighting for the championship?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, certainly it's a little bit different than 2020. At the same time all the races in 2020, you go in with the same mindset. You trying to win, you're trying to go there and help the team be better throughout the weekend, then in the race itself, trying to take that victory.

That mindset continues whether you're doing three races, 13 race, 17 race, whatever it is. You have to go in there every weekend and do what you can to, like I said, help the team Friday through Saturday, then on Sunday do the best job you can.

For us, I think if you look back at the way Andretti Autosport improved over the 2020 season, it's no secret that it was a little bit of a struggle the first part of the year, but the last half of that season the team really came on strong and the cars were really competitive. I think that gave us a lot of positive momentum going into the off-season.

There's nothing stopping us from saying we should be running up front right from the drop of the green flag at Barber. Podium, race wins, I'd love to see all the cars up there running with a shot at the championship with three or four rounds to go.

Q. Michael, can you talk about the kind of lineup for this season, how you've come to that lineup. You go into this thinking you're going in with a bit more focus in those four cars to fight at the front, kind of a refocusing of the organization maybe.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, a little bit. Obviously having four instead of five can make it a little bit easier in terms of focus, for sure. Yeah, we're real happy with the way things have gone. We're real happy with our driver lineup. I think we have four great full-timers that are going to help each other to hopefully have four of them fighting at the end of the year for the championship. That's our goal. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm real happy with the way it all came together. Can't wait to get to the first race and see how we go.

Q. James, I have to imagine how tough it was to be in the car for six races last year but have to be on the sidelines for those other eight. What stands out to you? What do you remember most of those eight races where you were not in the car?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: It's funny. Every time something like that happens, I think in an athlete's career you can take it one of two ways. You can look at the negative, we're not doing this, I couldn't do this, not that, or you try to focus on the positives that come out of it.

I learned a lot in those eight races. It's been a while since I sort of got to see a race unfold from the pit lane or broadcast booth. You see a whole lot more of a race from up there than you do from inside the cockpit. You only see one show when you're driving.

I still was able to connect with the team obviously throughout the season, having those couple races, staying in touch with how they were working, kind of sort of build up a little bit towards what we were hoping was going to be a full-time ride this year. Obviously that all came together.

I definitely had a different program in 2020 than I was hoping for, but really enjoyed my time working with NBC and all the talent there. Everybody was phenomenal to work with.

I definitely did learn some things that I think we can apply for next year and definitely helped me continue my growth pattern with the team and just being able to hit the ground running in the first race.

Q. Michael, I remember both you and James said back in February that you both had goals of this turning into a full-time program in 2021. It seems like it might have at least taken a little while to announce. Was there ever any doubt, sponsorship side or otherwise, that this would eventually come together over the last 10 months or so?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: We felt very confident. I think we felt Genesys was very excited about it. We started talking about extending their program. Then obviously we had to talk to some others to try to be able to fill in the rest of the way, which we're just about there. Hopefully we'll have something to announce there soon.

Yeah, but we always felt confident that we were going to be able to get it together. I got to say it's always nice when you fulfill a goal, and we reached it. So now we're on to the next goal, which is win the championship.

Q. With Hinch having not taken part in the Sebring test, how much is it transferrable from what was learned there over to Hinch's driving style? Question for Michael, but Hinch's view on it as well.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I mean, I think when you're testing, you're testing basic stuff. It's not just stuff based on the driver's style, it's more like things we're testing overall for the team. I believe that we did learn quite a few things during the test.

I think the things that we did learn, not just from Marco and James' car, but also the other drivers, it should definitely translate into a better car for James, as well.

Q. James, how do you feel your driving style meshes with your teammates'?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Honestly, quite well. I think for me, there were definitely some differences coming into the Andretti camp, sort of the general philosophy with the car and certain elements. Those first few races, especially on the road courses, took a little bit of time to get used to a certain element.

But I think we got there. Certainly by St. Pete you saw all those cars were quick, we were right up there with them in the Fast Six. That was for me a big indicator that Colton, Alex, Ryan, myself, we can all run pretty similar cars. I think that's really going to be a huge strength of ours over this season.

Q. Michael and James, the way you guys have been together in the past, now you're back together, you almost kind of seem to wonder sometimes what would have happened if you stuck together the first time.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, unfortunately things didn't work out. We had to go our separate ways there for a little bit. Yeah, it would have been fun to keep James within the team.

It is what it is. We're just happy to be back together. Hopefully we still have some more, bunch of more wins together.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, I mean, to steal a line from Ross: We were on a break. But we're back together now, and that's what matters. I still think there's a lot of opportunity. As Michael said, I still certainly feel like I got a lot of racing left in me. This is a team that can get it done with championships and with wins and 500s. We just want to see that orange 29 Genesys car covered in milk in May, hopefully covered in confetti at the end of the season.

Q. Michael, as a businessman, after what we've all been through in 2020, the uncertainty of 2021, how surprised are you to see the driver car lineup and the sponsorship interest as high as it is?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I think that says something about the momentum of the series itself. I think it's quite good. But you start to imagine, what if the stupid COVID wasn't there, where would we be?

I think it's at least a positive. We didn't go backwards, we're still going forwards, even though we had this hiccup with COVID. It makes me even more bullish about the future of INDYCAR.

Q. Hinch, given that you only had a partial program last season, is there anything you can take from last year going into this season? If so, what is it in terms of your technical feedback and stuff?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, for sure. I mean, any time you're in the race car with the team, there's items that you can learn from, certainly take into the following year. There's no major changes to the cars. Every lap I turned in 2020 is going to be valuable, just going to add to the database of knowledge for 2021.

I'll be working with a different engineering staff now that we're a full-time program. It's people I had the chance to work alongside, some people I've worked with in the past on the car.

Yeah, I think a lot of the experience from last year is going to translate well. I don't think we should start behind the eight ball really compared to anybody. I think we should be right there.

Q. Michael, how beneficial is it to you to have James back on the team given his experience with you guys?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: It's great having James back. Again, he's very quick. He's really a big help in developing a car. Also he fits in very well with all the other teammates, which is an important element when you have a team the size of ours. We have to make sure that personalities all work together. James fits in like a glove, perfect, with everybody. So, yeah, it's really great to have him back.

Q. James, I wanted to get your feeling on what it was like at the end of 2020 not knowing whether or not you'd be racing in 2021. Now that you've got your answer, is there a sense of relief at all?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I think, sure. I mean, obviously, yeah. Once the pieces all came together, there was a sense of relief. We had some challenges over the off-season certainly, partners move around that we thought were going to be there but weren't.

I was so focused in my whole team, Don, everybody over there, worked so hard on cultivating the relationship with Genesys. They were just so awesome to work with. We're so happy that they're in for 10 races. That was really the backbone of this program.

I was very confident that no matter what happened, we were going to fight, we were going to scrap our way, do whatever we had to do. We had obviously a ton of support from everybody at Andretti and what they brought to the table.

I was confident all along. Even though we hit some roadblocks along the way, I knew that's what we wanted to do, I knew that's what the team wanted, it's what Genesys wanted. We were just going to keep fighting till we made it happen.

Yeah, a little bit of relief certainly. But I wasn't too worried about the uncertainty at the end of '20.

Q. You were saying this is kind of like getting the band back together. Some of your most successful seasons were with Andretti. Can you speak to why that is.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: The culture in the team is just phenomenal. It's something that I just really took to when I first started driving there in 2012. That starts at the top with Michael. He's built an incredible organization. The record speaks for itself.

Just the atmosphere in the shop, the way we go racing, it just suits me I think as a person. I've had the opportunity to work with some incredible teammates there. I certainly think the bigger team, having four cars, these limited race weekends, and they're getting smaller, thanks, COVID, another thing that's made for us, less track time on race weekends. That program really does help.

I love working with other drivers, trying to make the whole team better. The atmosphere there really promotes that. I just put it down to team culture. I'm excited just to get back to work full-time with them.

Q. Michael, what has been your biggest challenge during this global pandemic? Is it working with sponsors or something else?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think there's a little bit of everything. But I think obviously it's about trying to keep our partners happy because unfortunately because of COVID we weren't able to be able to deliver all the deliverables for them. We were lucky enough to have great partners that worked with us. We were able to get through it.

It was a challenge for us like it is for everybody I think out there in their own way. But we got through it. I think we actually got through it, coming through it, we're going to be a better team for it. I think we learned a lot of other little things that just make it stronger, bring us more together as a team.

Yeah, it was tough. I'm sure every single one of us have some sort of story like that.

Q. Michael, just wondering with Marco scaling back his INDYCAR racing this year, tell me what your initial reaction was when you discussed that, what that's going to entail. What happens to the 98 car after Indianapolis with your team?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, it was an interesting time there when we were discussing where we were at, what we should do. Marco, we actually threw a scenario out that it may come down to only doing Indy only, a few other races. I think when we put that out to him, he started thinking about, You know what, this time in my career, where I am, maybe it's time for me to try some other things as well, just focus mainly on Indy because that's the big one he still wants to win. He knows deep down inside that he can still win it.

I was completely behind him on his decision. I respected it. That's not to say he's not going to be back full-time again in INDYCAR in the future. But I think right now, for what he needed for his head and everything, I think in the end it was a smart decision on his part, mature decision. We'll see what happens.

I totally respected his decision and was behind him.

Q. The one word that I haven't heard mentioned yet today is 'fans'. That pandemic really screwed things up in 2020. What was your reaction to seeing an empty Indianapolis Motor Speedway on race day, and what is it going to be like just to have fans back?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, I mean, I think it was the strangest year ever in every way. I think the strangest part of the year was obviously seeing the start of the Indy 500 with nobody in the stands. It felt naked. It felt like it wasn't right, you know?

I just hope there's no way that will ever happen again, for sure. I'm excited about getting back there and having those 300 some thousand fans right down there on the track when you're getting ready for the start of the race. There's nothing like it. In the end, it's the fans that give it that electricity. You feel it inside when you're down there on the grid right before the start.

That was something that was duly missed last year. Hopefully that was just a one-off thing and it will never happen again. Looking forward to, again, like I say, getting back there. I'm happy we were at least able to finish the year with fans in the stands at St. Petersburg. I think that sort of was a nice way to finish the year, at least we had some of that feeling back again.


@26:57
Q. James, you haven't had the amount of laps in the new Aeroscreen car as the other drivers have. What are the things you can learn from with the experience the team has going forward, competing a whole season in an Aeroscreen car? What do you think you need to pick up?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: To learn how to stay a bit cooler is the number one thing. That's the biggest challenge we've had with the Aeroscreen (laughter).

Again, it speaks to the strength of having a four-car team. You have so much experience now (indiscernible) equipment on the car, I guess we could say. Sure, I may have a few fewer laps, but the data has prepared me. I can take all the lessons they've learned. We've developed the setups as we've had to at each track. Luckily it was less of an impact on the setups than we thought it would be. That helped a bit. Pretty much could run the same car you ran last year with only a few minor adjustments.

I have to kind of lean on my teammates and on my team a little bit. I'm with the best team to do it.

Q. You mentioned a different mix to the team going forward into this season. You have experience with most of the people in the team. Who do you think will be your greatest ally with the team?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: In terms of my teammates?

Q. Yes. There will be some more supportive than others always.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: You know what, I think again that's what's so great with the culture there, is everybody is pretty supportive. We have an engineering trailer that everybody sits in, everybody can hear all the conversations. It's a very open book. Sometimes there's debates and healthy arguing and debating going on about maybe what to do or what the right move is. It's all very open, all very healthy in that sense.

I've had the most experience working with Ryan certainly. But I know Alex personally very well. Colton is probably the one I spend the least time around. Even of the races we did, he's a great help. He's quiet, to the point, kind of gets in and gets the job done. He knows a lot about racecars and how to make them go fast.

I think on any given weekend that could shift who your best ally is, whoever is hitting it the best on that weekend.

Q. Michael, this is pretty interesting going forward without Marco as a full-time driver. You've built a tremendous organization. Some might say as good of a driver as you were, as a team owner you're equal to anybody in the paddock. Do you see Marco coming forward and being integrated more this season into dealing with the issues of owning a team and event organizations?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Good question. I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure. I haven't really talked to Marco. I'm not sure he'll be going to the races he's not driving at. In fact, I know he's looking to do other series, other types of driving.

There probably won't be a lot of that. I don't think we'll see him a lot at the INDYCAR races. He's going to be doing a lot of other stuff, which is part of the reason why he took this decision. He thinks it's a great opportunity to see what it's like to drive different types of racecars and things like that.

Probably to answer your question, probably not much of that from Marco this year.

Q. There was an announcement last week with Simona De Silvestro. In a kind of way you have a ghost driver on the track because of the relationships in the past. What is your reaction to their chances going forward?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I'm real happy for Beth. I know she's worked hard to get there. We talked to her in the past, were close to doing some things together. Obviously with Simona who has driven for us in INDYCARS as well as Formula E, we have a great relationship with her. I have a ton of respect for her.

I think it's awesome for the sport to have them come in as a team. They should do well. They have the support of the Penske organization, which obviously helps them on their learning curve. I'm real happy for them. I hope they have a successful program.

Q. Michael, you lost your uncle, your cousin, your mother. How has that been for your family? Have you been able to recover well or is it still there making you sad?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: It's hasn't been great, I can tell you that. It's been a tough couple years, especially for my father. He lost his sister, as well. Yeah, it's been a tough time.

Unfortunately, it's part of life. We're all going to go through it. It's been tough to go through as much as we have in a short period of time. But it is the way it is. Life goes on. We have to march forward and be happy with the memories that we have of all the loved ones that we've lost.

Q. How is your dad doing? Is he taking it hard?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He's hanging in there. He's taking it hard. It's been really difficult on him, for sure. This COVID thing hasn't helped any. Being at home by yourself, not being out on the road. If you know my dad, he lives on the road. Not being able to travel I think has made things a little worse for him, for sure.

Q. Hopefully getting him back at the track will make him feel better.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I hope so. Hopefully getting him back in the two-seater, as well, because that's helped keep him young, as well.

Q. What has been the focus in the off-season for development of the team? Your cars were fast, but in traffic have seemed to struggle. Has that been one of your focuses for the off-season?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I don't think I'd agree with that. I think we had strong cars all the way through the field. If you watched James, the way we came up through the field after the mistake in the pit stop. We had four cars capable of winning the race and we shot ourselves in the race in the pits. Every single car that we had had a problem in the pits. That was the difference. Had that not happened, I think we would have won with one of them. James was one of them as well.

From that standpoint, I don't agree with that. Hopefully we are still going to have strong cars again next year. We've been focusing more on the tracks where we've been weak. There's tracks like St. Louis that I think we can do a better job at, a few others. Those are the ones we're really focusing on. Hopefully our guys have come up with the answer to be more competitive at the places we were weak.

Q. Genesys, is it a sponsorship deal only or is there any kind of technology exchange? Is Genesys with their technology helping the team at all?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: At the moment it's just sponsorship. But we're always looking to see if there's ways that we can use our partners to make this a better team. Our guys are always thinking about that.

We still haven't figured out a way yet to do it with Genesys, but...

THE MODERATOR: We'll segue back to Joyce Kim. Outside of maybe the Indy 500, is there another track you're looking forward to seeing the 29?

JOYCE KIM: Well, I mean, certainly we'll work on the activation of the brand again this year. Again, we're all sort of waiting to see what happens with the COVID, how that all turns out.

Yeah, I mean, we may not do airports again, but you'll see us all over Indy, no question.

THE MODERATOR: I heard you say you have twin boys that were excited about this opportunity to get involved in racing in a family kind of way.

JOYCE KIM: Yeah, I have nine-year-old twin boys ha were introduced to Indy racing last year. They hear the name Andretti, they hear Hinch, it's pandemonium at my house, so (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Hinch, you have a few more autographs to sign.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: That's fine. I think I have a go-kart race I have to set up (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Done.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Absolutely. Any time.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everybody. What a huge opportunity it is for Genesys, James Hinchcliffe back for a full-time ride, 10 races with Genesys in 2021. Michael, congratulations to you as well. Season opening April 18th at beautiful Barber Motorsports Park. Thank you for being with us today.
[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE


UPDATE:
By: David Malsher-Lopez - Feb 18, 2021, 11:01 AM
Capstone Turbine Corporation will return to Andretti Autosport-Honda in 2021 as primary sponsor for James Hinchcliffe at six of the seven races in which he isn’t sponsored by Genesys 
[one more opening for the 2021 season]





TAGS: James Hinchcliffe, Mayor Of Hinchtown, Andretti Autosport, Michael Andretti, Genesys, 2021, The EDJE