IndyCars - The off-season: Series news and comment until the March 2014 kick-off

[MarkyS]

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There were 32 IndyCars running around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, today…

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The Speedway is hosting a 2-day open test for contenders of the 2021 Indy 500 this week - Thursday and Friday - and 32 of them showed up today. Unfortunately, most of the day was lost to bad weather, but late in the day we did get to run Rookie Orientation Practice and Refresher laps for the 11 drivers who either didn’t run enough or at all last year, or who have never run in the 500. Sebastien Bourdais for AJ Foyt Enterprises TOPPED that session and his time was also the TOP TIME of the entire day.

Here was the order of speed for the ROP session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises - time of 00:40.1022s for a speed of 224.427mph

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2 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - time of 00:40.5317s for a speed of 222.048mph

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3 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 00:40.7061s for a speed of 221.097mph

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4 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 00:40.9140s for a speed of 219.974mph

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5 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan - time of 00:40.9813s for a speed of 219.612mph

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6 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP
7 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport
8 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
9 - Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne w/ Rick Ware Racing
10 - Max Chilton, Carlin
11 - Cody Ware [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

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Sebastien Bourdais

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(continued…)

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M

[MarkyS]

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There were 32 IndyCars running around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, today…(part 2)…

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Twenty-one cars took part in the opening session which was for veterans only. The session was supposed to be two hours long but ended up losing the last half hour due to rain, which hampered most of the day. For Ed Carpenter Racing the session was bad early, then great, and great late in the running.

Here was the order of speed for the IndyCar veteran’s session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:40.4106s for a speed of 222.714mph

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2 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:40.6695s for a speed of 221.296mph

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3 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:40.8024s for a speed of 220.575mph

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4 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 00:40.8423s for a speed of 220.360mph

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5 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 00:40.8658s for a speed of 220.233mph

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6 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
8 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
9 - Will Power, Team Penske
10 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

11 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
12 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
13 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
14 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
15 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
17 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
18 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
19 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
20 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske

21 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
22 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
23 - Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne w/ Rick Ware Racing

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Notable:

• The first guy out was Rinus VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing, but not for long. On his fifth lap the rear of the car snapped in Turn 1 sending VeeKay hard into the Safer Barrier. He climbed out of the car on his own but was later found to have a broken index finger on his left hand, which will not prevent him from driving but will be painful at Barber for the season opener, next week.

• Times were set with a tow from traffic. In the no-tow ranking the top drivers were Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Will Power, with speeds in the 119 mph range.

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Conor Daly - the new mullet was neither help nor harm

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On Friday the weather should be better, so a lot more running should be the order of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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JR Hildebrand will run in the 2021 Indy 500 for AJ Foyt Enterprises…

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The Californian always runs well in the 500, with a history of P2, P6 and P8 finishes, while qualifying P6 and P9. That expertise at the 500 is what attracted AJ Foyt and got Hildebrand the ride.

The car he will pilot is a tribute car to Foyt, sponsored by ABC Supply. It has the same livery as Foyt’s 1961 Indy 500-WINNING roadster - his first of four victories at the Speedway. Chip Ganassi Racing has even allowed the # 1 for the car, though it belongs this year to 2020 Champion Scott Dixon.

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Foyt’s roadster…

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…and JR’s livery-replica car

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Said AJ, "At my age, I don’t get excited anymore, but I’m thrilled to see this car painted like my 1961 car. That win was so special because it was my dream just to be good enough to make the race. They were all sweet victories but to win that first one where I came from was unbelievable.

“Having ABC as the sponsor is fantastic. They were awful good to us as our main sponsor for 15 years and they came back for the 500 last year when things were pretty tough. It just shows you what kind og company they are and we’ve been great friends and we’ll remain that way.”

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JR Hildebrand

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[MarkyS]

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IndyCar open practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Day 2 - Speeds increase…

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As expected, the weather was substantially better on Friday for the IndyCar open test, even though there was a short rain shower that allowed a brief respite from the fast runnings of the day. And, as expected, everyone was faster on Day 2 than on Day 1, as everyone got more and more comfortable with the thought and then the process of heading into a 90-degree turn at nearly 240 miles per hour. It truly is insanity.

The day started with the completion of the Rookie Orientation Practice and Refresher course, requiring all participants to make laps at over 215 miles per hour average and all were easily in the groove. That allowed everyone to drive on track for the rest of the day, veterans and rookies alike. And so they did, 'til the end of the day, with that brief shower in the middle, and we have those results, here. No need to combine times with Thursday as again, for everyone, these are also the fastest times of the test.

Here is the order of speed for the IndyCars open test at IMS, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:39.6792s for a speed of 226.819mph

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2 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 00:39.7534s for a speed of 226.396mph

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3 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 00:39.8013s for a speed of 226.123mph

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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.8395s for a speed of 225.906mph

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5 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 00:39.8859s for a speed of 225.644mph

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6 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
7 - Will Power, Team Penske
8 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
9 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
10 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

11 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
12 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
13 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
14 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
15 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
17 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
18 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
19 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
20 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport
22 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
23 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing
24 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
25 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
26 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 - Max Chilton, Carlin
28 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
29 - Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne w/ Rick Ware Racing
30 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
31 - Cody Ware [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

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Notable:

• As the full field started running, Conor Daly once again took the TOP SPOT for a while, but eventually others eclipsed him, though not by much. Newgarden’s enormous lap was gained with a tow and he was more than a mile per hour faster than anyone else and alone in the 226 mile-per-hour club for much of the day. Then, Montoya joined him with about an hour to go. Finally, Takuma Sato, who had not been running for quite a long time, jumped into his Honda with only 7 minutes to go and stuck it in P2. Newgy takes the TOP SPOT for the test.

• With Taku in P2 and Graham in P5 Rahal Letterman Lanigan is once again proving to be a formidable Indy 500 team. Santino Ferrucci posted a P20 for the team and that was also a jump in speed for the Connecticut native over Thursday.

• Graham Rahal also collected the fastest lap without a tow, a 221.949 effort. He was followed by rookie Scott McLaughlin for Team Penske.

• His broken finger didn’t really bother him that much, as he tells it, but his broken car from his Thursday shunt kept Rinus VeeKay off the track.

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Josef Newgarden - TOPS of the test

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Towards the end of the day it looked almost exactly like racing going on out there, with many cars making set-ups and executions of passes all over the track. This all bodes well for the race. The 105th running of the Indy 500 will likely be another super-competitive race.

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[MarkyS]

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Unfortunately, Zach Veach got rained out last weekend…

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The IndyCar driver was all set to make his winged Sprint Car debut at Atomic Speedway near Chillicothe, Ohio last weekend in a car provided by John Shrewbrooks Racing, but the weather came in and the race was called.

Zach did manage to get in some practice, however and damn if it doesn’t look like an incredible gas!

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Zach Veach

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Zach Veach

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Hopefully, this will still happen in the near future!

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[MarkyS]

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While they were there for the IndyCar open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway…

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…last week, the 9 former WINNERS of the Indy 500 present took this great photograph:

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back row, left to right: Simon Pagenaud 2019, Scott Dixon 2008, Ryan Hunter-Reay 2014, Will Power 2018 and Alexander Rossi 2016.

Front row, left to right: Juan Pablo Montoya 2000, 2015, Takuma Sato 2017, 2020, Helio Castroneves 2001, 2002, 2009 and Tony Kanaan 2013.

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Questions - Will they all qualify this year? Will any of them WIN again? Will Helio finally join the exclusive 4-timer club of AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears? The oldest guy here is TK at 46 and the youngest is Alex at 29.

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It is incredible that there will be no less than NINE former winners trying to WIN again in 2021.

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[MarkyS]

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It’s the official welcome of Grant Palmer to the Road to Indy…

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It happens every year at this time, right before the opening guns go off. Teams add last-minute drivers to their rosters and we sometime don’t even get official announcements before wheels start rolling across the asphalt.

Such was the case with young American Grant Palmer who showed up at Spring Training to drive in USF2000 for Canada’s Exclusive Autosport - the “eh” team. Today, team Principal Michael Duncalfe finally announced Grant as the 3rd member of the team’s USF2000 squad for the first two races of the season aside fellow rookie Billy Frazer, the 2020 Formula Ford New Zealand Champ, and sophomore Christian Brooks, the TOP driver of Spring Training for the series, so Grant is in great company that he could benefit from. Palmer will pilot the team’s red and white Tatuus USF-17 # 90.

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Grant Palmer - two and done schedule, so far

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Palmer, a 20-year-old from St. Louis, Missouri, got the typical karting start, running with Margay Racing in their Ignite program before moving to compete in Superkarts! USA competition with Phil Giebler Racing. Those efforts got him into the Lucas Oil School of Racing Shootout in 2018 as a finalist. He then tested in both F4 and the Lucas Oil Formula cars in 2019.

Last year, he scored the FX class championship in the SCCA Super Tour and then moved to England to drive the full slate in the wingless wonders of the UK Formula Ford 1600 Championship and a half-season in Castle Combe FF1600, coming second in Champion of Cadwell as well as competing in Champion of Brands races, the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy.

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Said Michael Duncalfe, “I am very happy to have Grant join the Exclusive Autosport USF2000 programme for the start of the 2021 season. Grant has a solid foundation in cars and has shown he knows how to win. He showed well in testing and instantly fit in with the team. We are looking forward to getting the 2021 season underway and seeing the strides Grant can make in the # 90 Exclusive Autosport USF2000.”

Michael Duncalfe

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It’s clear that what Palmer needs more than anything is some stability in the series - a full season, if possible. And that means finding sponsorship. Let’s hope he can generate some interest with these two outings at Barber and St. Pete.

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[MarkyS]

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They’ve done it again - Exclusive Autosport will run Matt Round-Garrido in 2021…

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Just an hour after announcing Grant Palmer as a driver in USF2000 for two races, team owner Michael Duncalfe has announced that he will ALSO run England’s Matt Round-Garrido for at least two races in USF2000 and maybe more. Matt will make the 4th driver for the squad at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend, driving the # 92 Tatuus USF-17.

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Matt Round-Garrido

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Matt was the 2018 Formula Ford 1600 Northern Ireland Champion and that got him into the 2018 Road to Indy Shootout. He then did five races of the 2019 season of USF2000 with Jay Howard Driver Development, before switching to BN Racing and claiming his first podium and then stepping up mid-season to Indy Pro 2000 in a joint BN Racing / JHDD team operation. He followed that with a full season of IP2K in 2020 driving for Pabast Racing, finishing 7th overall with a trio of fourth place finishes early in the season.

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Said Matt, “I’m extremely excited to be representing Exclusive Autosport this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Michael (Duncalfe) and I have spoken a couple of times in the past, but never managed to materialize a deal. For us to do one such last-minute before the first race of the season is quite good.

“I think their car looks very competitive and I’m excited to drive it. It’s going to be hard work, seeing as I haven’t done any pre-season testing, but I know I’ll have the right people around me, so we can push forward and keep improving and hopefully by St. Petersburg we’ll be pushing for a win.”

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It is unclear at this time whether the deal is for the entire season, or just for the opening two rounds of the season at Barber and St. Petersburg one week after that, but Round-Garrido is also set to run in the Formula Regional Americas championship with Velocity Racing Development, so he will be peddling a car somewhere.

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[MarkyS]

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Some last minute announcements and non-announcements in the Road to Indy…

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This weekend we will be IndyCar racing again…and the venue will be Barber Motorsports Park where there will be a full slate of racing in support of the IndyCars, with all three series that make up the Road to Indy kicking off their seasons, as well.

As is always the case, there are some last minute entrants - some announced formally and a few who just show up on the entry lists.

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Not announced but on the entry list for USF2000 is Kent Vaccaro for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports. Kent is listed as a rookie but he actually ran in 3 races for Miller Vinatieri in 2020, as well as 2 races in FR Americas for Momentum Motorsports. In 2019 he ran the whole season of FR Americas for Momentum, following two years in F4 United States, so Kent has the open wheel experience to compete well.

Kent Vaccaro

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We have already introduced Englishman Enaam Ahmad back in post # 1281 and told you his future in Indy Pro 2000 with RP Motorsport USA was contingent upon testing well at Barber last week and that he did, so Enaam will be racing for the Italy-based team this weekend. This guy is very talented so we are hoping he does well enough to grab more sponsors and more races.

Enaam Ahmad

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Formally announced today, Marotti Autosport will once again partner with Legacy Autosport - as they did in 2020 - to bring two guys back to USF2000. First, it’s the return of Simon Sikes. After a truly stellar karting career, Simon was the SCCA’s 2018 F2000 Vice-Champion, then was the 2020 SCCA Runoffs Champion for Formula F as well as the 2020 FRP 1600 Champion. That all earned him a Team USA Scholarship and 8 USF2000 races with Marotti / Legacy in 2020.

Said Simon, “I am thrilled to be returning to the USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires with Marotti Autosport/Legacy Autosport. I am ready to go for the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park, and I am confident in both the team’s and my abilities to perform strongly this weekend.”

Simon Sikes

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Marotti / Legacy will also be bringing back Andre Castro to USF2000. After the typical karting background Andre ran 4 races with Newman Wachs Racing in USF2000 in 2017, but lacked the budget to do more. He then switched to NASCAR’s Whelen Euro series for 2019 and 2020 but still has that open-wheel jones and wants more.

Said the 22-year-old American, “The last time I raced In USF2000 was at Barber, so making my comeback at the same track seems very fitting. My goal is to keep the car clean and become more comfortable throughout the weekend.”

Andre Castro

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No word from Marotti / Legacy as to how long either guy will be racing, but we’re hoping for good luck for both.

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[MarkyS]

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The Off-Season is OVER!

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Look for the season opener thread for Barber Motorsports Park!

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[MarkyS]

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There was a lot of great heads-up driving on that first lap at Barber, last Sunday…

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When Josef Newgarden for Team Penske spun on track near Turn 5 of the first lap of the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama a lot of guys got invloved very quickly but a few guys made inbcredible moves to avoid getting caught out, and we have two examples here:

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First, Graham Rahal:

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Graham Rahal

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Secondly, Jack Harvey:

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Jack Harvey

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Amazing reflexes for both drivers. Graham started from P18 and his save allowed him to go to a great P7 finish. Jack started P11, just behind Newgarden in P8, and went on to finish P11.

On to St., Pete!

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[MarkyS]

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Michael Myers will race in USF2000 this season, and for his own team…

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Announced today, the 19-year-old racer will enter the fray in USF2000, starting this week at St. Petersburg, and driving for newly-formed Michael Myers Racing.

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Michael Myers

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The American teenager debuted in USF2000 last year with Legacy Autosport, entering eight races across the last three rounds at the Indianapolis GP, Mid-Ohio and St. Petersburg. He came from an off-road racing background but switched to open-wheelers in 2019, competing in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Racing series to the Vice-Championship and then went on to take the Championship in the 2019 Lucas Oil Winter Race series, earning himself a spot as a finalist in the Team USA Scholarship.

Said Michael, “We are going racing! I am excited to be back on track this 2021 racing season under our own team MMR. We will be learning as we go and having fun as always. Let’s get it.”

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Myers couldn’t put the necessary deals together in time to contest pre-season testing or the first round at Barber, which puts him two rounds behind everyone else in the title hunt, but hopefully he’s in it now, and to the end of the season.

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[MarkyS]

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The IndyCar race weekend just completed at St. Petersburg…

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We were unable to cover the last race weekend, because we spent most of the weekend inside aluminum tubes that cruise through ultra-thin airspace at about 500 miles per hour, as we moved about the country in our capacity as a bread-winner. HOWEVER, we can bring you the results of the racing we are interested in - specifically, the 6 Road to Indy races, the 2 Stadium Super Truck races and the IndyCar race itself.

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USF2000 -

Season Round 3:
P1 - Christian Brooks, Exclusive Autosport

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P2 - Matt Round-Garrido, Exclusive Autosport

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P3 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Pabst Racing

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Summary - It was only a matter of time before the highly-talented Christian Brooks took a WIN in the series and veteran Yuven Sundaramoorthy is already a race WINNER for 2021, but the news here is that Matt Round-Garrido is showing the form that got him into the final Road to Indy Shootout in 2018. The Englishman was a last-minute add to the Exclusive Autosport squad at Barber and didn’t show well. It looks like he has gelled with his guys, now. Prescott Campbell for DEForce and Josh Pierson for Pabst Racing were both stellar at Barber. In this race they were 16th and 7th respectively - the difference between natural road course and street courses? Highest finishing rookie was New Zealander Billy Frazer for Exclusive Autosport, so the “eh team” had three guys in the TOP FOUR.

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Season Round 4:
P1 - Christian Brooks, Exclusive Autosport

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P2 - Kiko Porto, DEForce Racing

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P3 - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports

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Summary - Nothing surprising, here. All three of these veteran USF2000 drivers are capable of WINS. Matt Round-Garrido was 4th, for an excellent weekend. Prescott Campbell and Josh Pierson were 9th and 10th. Highest-finishing rookie was Spike Kohlbecker for Ignite Autosport w/Cape Motorsports. Spike showed well at Barber too, so the 19-year-old from St. Louis is looking good.

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in USF2000 points leaving St. Pete:

1 - Christian Brooks, 97
2 - Kiko Porto, 74
3 - Prescott Campbell, 73
4 - Josh Pierson, 69
5 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 67

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Indy Pro 2000 -

Season Round 3:
P1 - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport

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P2 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

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P3 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing

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Summary - All three of these guys are shoo-ins for a shot at the IP2K title. Braden and Christian are indeed former USF2000 champs and Hunter was 2019 Vice-Champion of USF2000. They all have experience on street courses, too. Exclusive Autosport’s Artem Petrov and Juncos Racing’s Manuel Sulaiman and Reece Gold were P4, P5 and P6 respectively - no surprise, these guys are also excellent. A great showing from England’s Enaam Ahmad for RP Motorsport USA, who came home P7 despite never seeing the track before.

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Season Round 4:
P1 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

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P2 - Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Racing

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P3 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Racing

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Summary - Pole-sitter Hunter McElrea lost 3 spots to finish P4 and Braden Eves started and ended P6, so most of the TOP SIX guys from Race 1 are still the TOP SIX guys - just shuffled around. This is a great group of junior formula racers and they all know this tough track well. Artem Petrov managed a P8 from a P14 start so his passes were outstanding.

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in Indy Pro 2000 points leaving St. Pete:

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1 - Braden Eves, 98
2 - Christian Rasmussen, 94
3 - HunterMcElrea, 87
4 - Artem Petrov, 79
5 - Reece Gold, 67

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(continued…)

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M

[MarkyS]

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The IndyCar race weekend just completed at St. Petersburg…(part 2)…

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Indy Lights -

Season Round 3:
P1 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andretti Autosport

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P2 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport

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P3 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports

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Summary - Both Kyle Kirkwood and Danial Frost were uncharacteristically lukewarm at Barber, with a best finish of P5 for Kyle. Both looked much better here, with Kirkwood ending where we expect him to be. David Malukas now has 2 podiums in 3 races, including a WIN at Barber. Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports WON at Barber but the mean street racing he is not used to saw him start P6 and end P9. Teammate Benjamin Pedersen similarly was unused to the streets and ended the day P10. Devlin DeFrancesco for Andretti Steinbrenner who had two P3s at Barber started P3 here but had contact in the race and ended P12.

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Season Round 4:
P1 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports

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P2 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport

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P3 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports

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Summary - Malukas started from pole and Kirkwood started from P2 as these 2 guys ran away and hid, finishing a half a second apart from each other. Linus started P7 and did very well to get to P3, but still 13 seconds back. Danial Frost got P4 from a P4 start and Devlin DeFrancesco was P5 from his P3 start. Benjamin Pedersen took home a P6 from a P9 start, so he too learned from Race 1.

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in Indy Lights points leaving St. Pete:

1 - David Malukas, 94
2 - Linus Lundqvist, 91
3 - Kyle Kirkwood, 86
4 - Devlin DeFrancesco, 70
5 - Danial Frost, 67

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All three Road to Indy series will race next on the Indianapolis Road Course, May 13-15, in support of the big cars.

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Stadium Super Trucks -

Season Round 1:
P1 - Sheldon Creed

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P2 - Matthew Brabham

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P3 - Arie Luyendyk Jr

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Summary - Sheldon Creed was a young teen when he started driving SSTs in 2014 and was almost immediately superb in them, WINNING a Vice-Championship, followed by 2 Championships. He’s been racing in NASCAR trucks since 2020 and this is his first SST race since 2019, so it’s great to see him back. This is his 37th win and 60th podium in SST competition. Matthew Brabham is similarly superb in the SSTs, with his own 2 Championships and another Vice-Championship. “Matty Brabs” is also one of the greatest Road to Indy drivers ever. Indy Lights veteran Arie Luyendyk, Jr. is also a multiple SST race WINNER and has been in the mighty trucks since 2013, off and on. Coming in P4 was IndyCar veteran and off-road legend Robby Gordon, the father of the SSTs.

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Season Round 2:
P1 - Sheldon Creed

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P2 - Matthew Brabham

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P3 - Robby Gordon

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Summary - As is always the case, the starting grid for the Stadium Super Trucks is reversed from the qualifying, so Creed qualified in P2 and started this one in P8, Brabham qualified in P3 and started in P7 and Gordon qualified in P5 and started in P5, and they fought through to this podium. These three are the cream of the crop in SSTs. After COVID pretty much ended the SST season in 2020 it’s great to see the very popular trucks back on a race track, and the fans loved them, as usual.

The points for the SSTs have yet to be awarded but we know that the TOP FOUR are, in order…

1 - Sheldon Creed
2 - Matthew Brabham
3 - Arie Luyerndyk, Jr
4 - Robby Gordon

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The SST schedule is being made on the fly and while they expect to race in June nothing is confirmed yet for the United States. They should race at Darwin in Australia in June.

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(continued…)

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M

[MarkyS]

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The IndyCar race weekend just completed at St. Petersburg…(part 3)…

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The IndyCar race was WON in dominating fashion by pole-sitter Colton Herta for Andretti Herta, while P2 went to P3 starter Josef Newgarden for Team Penske and P3 went to Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, who started from P4.

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While the podium finishers didn’t provide much in the way movement, there was a ton of hard racing behind them, with Takuma Sato for Rahal Letterman Lanigan going from P15 to P6, Marcus Ericcson from Chip Ganassi Racing going from P16 to P7, Will Power from Team Penske going from P20 to P8, and they weren’t the only race movers - just among the biggest ones.

Colton was simply superb, slowly amassing an 11-plus second lead over the rest of the field before it was erased twice with yellow flags, but his great restarts made that academic. He was going to WIN this race - his 4th IndyCar victory - no matter what. He now has already matched the career IndyCar WIN total of his father, Bryan Herta.

Barber race WINNER Alex Palou was only able to get a P17 finish from his P10 start but he did grab Fastest Lap of the race. Jack Harvey for Meyer Shank Racing, who also started on the front row, fell to a P4 finish, but that matched his best IndyCar finish from 2020 and he was delighted.

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Here are some race highlights:

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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With this result here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving St. Petersburg:

1 - Alex Palou, 67
2 - Will Power, 65
3 - Scott Dixon, 65
4 - Colton Herta, 62
5 - Simon Pagenaud, 54

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Next up for the IndyCars is the double-header at Texas Motor Speedway, this upcoming weekend.

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[MarkyS]

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Fans of the mullet rejoice…your champion will be racing, this weekend…

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Noblesville, Indiana’s favorite son Conor Daly will be in the # 59 Gallagher Chevrolet, subbing in both weekend races at the Texas Motor Speedway double-header for Carlin’s Max Chilton.

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Conor Daly - In for Max at Texas…twice

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The road and street course driver of the # 20 Chevy for Ed Carpenter Racing did the same thing with Carlin in 2020, as Chilton chooses not to drive the ovals except for the Indy 500. It works out fine for Daly in that Ed Carpenter will be in the # 20 at Texas, Indy and Gateway and will give Conor a different car for just the Indy 500, so this oval work for Carlin gives Conor a full season over the two teams.

Even better, Daly has given Carlin some of their best finishes when in their car. Last season, he took the # 59 from a P19 start to P6 at Texas. He was also able to get his first career pole in 2020 at Iowa Speedway while subbing for Max.

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Pole - proud day for Carlin and Daly

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Said Conor, “Obviously, I’m more than happy to take this opportunity, because I really enjoy being part of Carlin; it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences in my IndyCar career. Seeing the progress we’ve made together has been really, really rewarding because those guys are prepared to put everything on the line to improve themselves and give me what I need. That’s all you can ask for.”
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Good luck, Conor!

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[MarkyS]

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It’s about time!..IndyCar driver Robert Wickens spent the day behind the wheel…

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…of a competitive SportsCar today as the paraplegic drove fellow paraplegic Michael Johnson’s # 54 Hyundai Veloster TCR N for Bryan Herta Autosport and Michael Johnson Racing at Mid-Ohio Ports Car Course during the all-Hyundai track day. Working with Michael’s crew, Wickens soon had the Veloster equipped with hand controls up to speed.

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Wickens in the Veloster

NBC Sports

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The 300hp front-wheel-drive four-cylinder turbo Hyundai was made available by BHA and Johnson, the race-winning driver from Michigan. Johnson has raced in Indy Pro 2000 cars with hand controls, as well, so the prospect of Wickens getting into a formula car of some type again in the future is for real.

Here, Michael explains how the hand controls work in the car he shares with Stephen Simpson in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition:

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AP Sports

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Said Robby of the drive today, “I’m appreciative of the opportunity Hyundai and Bryan Herta have provided, and a big thanks to Michael Johnson for this collaboration. It’s been a journey getting here and the experience on track today was incredibly rewarding. Working with the team, dialing the car in, gaining speed and improving the handling – it was awesome. The Veloster N TCR was a blast to drive. Once I got comfortable with the car, I began to understand what I need for my own accessibility to move forward.”

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We’ve been saying for a long time now that the quickest way for Wickens to get back to competition was to meet up with and learn from Johnson, who has made it clear that a paraplegic can compete and WIN in motorsports.

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[MarkyS]

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Stefan Wilson is returning to drive for Andretti Autosport in the 2021 Indy 500…

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The last time the young English driver was in the 500 was 2018, then also driving for Andretti and late in the race he led, but had to duck in for a splash of fuel. That tantalizing reality has both haunted and inspired Stefan to find a way to return to the Brickyard for another shot at it. He found one!

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Stefan Wilson

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Wilson had originally made a deal with Andretti to run in the 2017 Indy 500, but graciously gave up his ride to allow two-time Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso to run in that car, on the promise that Stefan would run in 2018, instead. Michael Andretti fulfilled that promise that almost led to a WIN.

This deal started out a mere five weeks ago as a joke between Wilson and his new benefactor, capital investor Don Cusick, who wanted to know if Stefan knew how to get “good seats” at the 500. They agreed that the best seat at Indy was in a car but the 2nd best seat was on Pit Road as a team owner. Cusick then decided to create Cusick Motorsports in order to actually make it happen, and will be putting one of his companies, LOHLA SPORT, a ladie’s golfing fashion business, on the car as the principal sponsor of the # 25 Honda.

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Stefan’s Indy 500 Honda for Andretti Autosport

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Wilson, the brother of the late Justin Wilson, has multiple WINS as an Indy Lights driver, but has only 3 previous starts in the big cars, including that 2018 Indy 500. Stefan is most well known to fans of IRacing, as one of the best competitors in the sim racing world, but he has also been the guy to pull together much of the sim racing during the COVID-19 pandemic. He becomes the 35th confirmed entrant in the 105th runnning of the Indy 500.

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[MarkyS]

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Last Sunday Parker Thompson was making us look good…

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As we predicted was soon to happen when he announced that he was going to compete in the new Porsche Carrera Cup North America series, Canadian hot shoe and Road to Indy ace Parker Thompson claimed his first WIN in a last-lap thriller in Race 1 of 2 Sunday at Circuit of The Americas, near Austin, Texas.

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The JDX Racing driver got around the # 3 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Kay van Berlo for Kelly-Moss Road and Race in the final corner of the final lap to edge out the Dutchman by 0.496 seconds at the line.

From his P5 start, Parker quickly passed Riley Dickinson for Team Hardpoint EBM and then on lap 3 passed Leh Keen for 311RS Motorsport. Meanwhile, van Berlo was past pole-sitter and teammate Seb Priaulx to take the lead. Parker next took Priaulx and set himself up for the last-lap heroics to take the checkers in the lead, with van Berlo taking P2 and Priaulx completing the podium.

Parker became the 3rd different driver in three races to WIN, but van Berlo came home P1 in Race 2, making him the first repeat WINNER for the season.

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Parker Thompson

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In addition to his driving duties for JDX Racing, Parker is also the host for most Road to Indy TV features and race coverage this season, Catch him! And CONGRATS on the WIN, Parker. You make us proud!

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[MarkyS]

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Let’s celebrate Parker Thompson’s WIN in Texas with…

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…two Circuit of the Americas grid girls…

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And while we’re celebrating, let’s also celebrate 15K views of the thread! Thank you, ladies!!

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