Pato O’Ward Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou comes into the weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the NTT IndyCar Series points leader and served notice during Friday’s lone practice for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix that he intends on staying there. Posting a lap of 1 minute, 10.883 seconds, Palou climbed to the top of the leaderboard late in the 50-minute session and was able to hold off a late flurry of activity to lead the way when the checkered flag flew. Winner of May’s GMR GrandRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASHVILLE – The quest for an NTT IndyCar Series championship is further paramount for ARROW McLaren SP as McLaren Racing acquired 75 percent majority stake that’ll be finalized at the end of the season. Right after confirming their announcement Sunday morning, Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson affirmed they’ll still be around the IndyCar program with zero intentions of ever putting their efforts up for sale. “We thought the only way we can make it better is to align with a Formula One team. We’re the onlyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NASHVILLE – The debut weekend of the Nashville street course has been a handful for everyone in the NTT IndyCar Series, but Colton Herta has been able to tame the beast so far, as the fastest driver in both practice sessions that have been held on the challenging circuit. Herta’s lap of 1 minute, 15.353 seconds was good enough to boost him to the top of the leaderboard for the second day in a row, besting Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and Sebastien Bourdais. “ItRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NASHVILLE – After having the weekend circled on the calendar all season long, the NTT IndyCar Series finally got to take its first laps around the streets of Nashville on Friday, with Colton Herta putting down the fastest lap during a wild opening practice session for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. Herta traded the top spot with a number of other drivers, but his lap of 1 minute, 16.587 seconds was quick enough to allow the driver of the No. 26 Andretti Autosport withRead More

By INDYCAR LEXINGTON, Ohio – This victory almost seemed like destiny for Josef Newgarden and Team Penske. Newgarden drove to the first victory of 2021 for himself and Team Penske on Sunday, leading 73 of 80 laps and holding off a charging Marcus Ericsson to win The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. It ended a dry spell of nine races without a victory for Newgarden and Team Penske, the winningest team in INDYCAR SERIES history. LINKS: Results The win,Read More

By INDYCAR ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – In yet another nerve-fraying finish, Alex Palou passed Josef Newgarden with two laps remaining Sunday to win the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR at Road America and regained the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead. Palou drove his No. 10 NTT DATA Honda to a 1.9106-second victory over the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Colton Herta. 2014 series champion Will Power finished third in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet. Palou, who led five of the 55 laps after starting fifth, averagedRead More

By INDYCAR ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Josef Newgarden’s cagey tire strategy paid off Saturday with the NTT P1 Award for the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR at Road America. Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden was the only driver in the Firestone Fast Six who elected to use new Firestone primary “black” tires for the entire final round of qualifying instead of used primary tires or the grippier, but less durable Firestone alternate “red” tires. That paid off with a best lap of 1 minute, 46.0186 seconds in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer This weekend’s stop of the NTT IndyCar Series will certainly be a busy one. Not only they’re running the longest track on the tour, they’ll have plenty of track activity to dial their car up for Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix. That isn’t the main story going into the ninth round. Instead, it’s a pair of injuries that’s stolen the headlines. Rinus VeeKay, who’s currently fifth in points, and defending Road America winner Felix Rosenqvist won’t be competing. VeeKay underwent surgery on his left clavicle afterRead More

By INDYCAR DETROIT – Pato O’Ward took the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points lead with a drive full of championship-caliber mettle, passing Josef Newgarden with three laps remaining to win the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2 on Sunday at Belle Isle Park. O’Ward, 22, became the first two-time winner this season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES after the first seven races opened with different winners. He also won the XPEL 375 on May 2 at Texas Motor Speedway. LINK: Official Results Mexican driver O’Ward, who started 16th, powered away from two-time seriesRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the second straight day, Team Penske left the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix heartbroken. Yesterday it was Will Power’s car not firing up after the red flag was lifted. Today, it was Josef Newgarden’s rear tire wear playing a role on finishing second after leading the first 67 laps. “Sad. Just pretty sad,” said Newgarden. “It’s hard not to be disappointed. We had the car to beat, but the cautions (came out) when we didn’t need them. Wrong tires when we didn’t need them.” Right outRead More