CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
Friday Practice Report
July 4
Defending Mid-Ohio winner Pato O’Ward quickest in Friday practice.
- Last year’s winner of the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Josef Newgarden, behind the wheel of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet were the quickest of the Chevrolet-powered drivers on the combined timesheet of Friday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice on the 2.258-Mile, 13-Turn Mid-Ohio road course, turning in the second and fourth fastest times of three part practice. All 27 drivers were eligible to run in the first 40 minutes, with the 27 entries split into two groups for 12 minutes each to reduce traffic on the iconic road course.
- Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet led the first 40 minutes of practice, where the more durable but less sticky Primary Black Firestone Racing Tires was the only rubber utilized. He was joined in the top ten by Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and Nolan Siegel in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet in a tight group that saw 21 of the 27 drivers within one second of Power.
- O’Ward, with a lap timed at 66.0160 seconds, was the second-quickest in the first of two 12-minute sessions, where drivers utilized the softer, but less durable, Alternate Red Firestone Racing Tires, with ten drivers within a second of the quickest driver.
- Newgarden, a two-time winner at Mid-Ohio, was the quickest driver in the second 12-minute session, which was also close, with the fastest dozen drivers within a second of the Team Penske driver.
- A significant portion of the field had off-track adventures, but David Malukas’ incident in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet was the most significant, with the 23-year-old ending up backwards in the tire barrier on the outside of Turn 9.
- The 14 Team Chevy drivers are back on track at 10:35 am (ET) on Saturday morning and qualify at 2:35 pm, with both airing on FS1 in the United States.
TUNE IN ALERT
Saturday
· NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice #2 – 10:30am (ET)/9:30am (CT)/8:30am (MT)/7:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
· NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)/12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Sunday
· NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up – 9:30am (ET)/8:30am (CT)/7:30am (MT)/6:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
· Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (90 laps) – 1:30pm (ET)/12:30pm (CT)/11:30am (MT)/10:30am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
NTT INDYCAR SERIES FRIDAY COMBINED PRACTICE RESULTS FROM MID-OHIO
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):
A.J. FOYT RACING
David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“Just lost the rears. It was our last lap before we were going to come in so I pushed a little harder. I went to downshift and it kicked the rears out. I was in there (medical trailer) watching TV and it was happening to a lot of other guys. The track has been really slick. It caught me off guard. I tried to save it, but going up that hill it just swung around and I couldn’t keep it underneath me. Unfortunately.”
ARROW MCLAREN
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“We would love to go back-to-back here, but it’s early in the weekend. The car’s in the window. I’m comfortable in it. I’m happy.
“They’ve made a few safety changes. But so far, it’s been a good session for us today. So just a couple of things to clean up and we’ll be back at it tomorrow. It’s new pavement and there’s less banking. So you definitely feel the difference, especially as now as it’s rubbering in, like, you definitely feel the progression of it. But, yeah, I think it won’t be too much of a change once the whole track’s rubbered in. Just finding the limits. This is when you wanna find them. So far, it’s been, it’s been alright.
“I love coming here, and the fans are always super pumped to be here for the Fourth of July weekend. And, it always smells so good, you know, those juicy burgers or whatever else they’re cooking. It”s a cool weekend to be a part of.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“We were pretty far off at the beginning of practice and brought ourselves back to where we need to be. We weren’t slow, but we also weren’t stellar. We did some experiments that we know didn’t work, and we know what to go back to for Practice 2. I’m confident we will have a better day tomorrow but definitely a bit of a tough one.”
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“It was an okay Practice. We didn’t really execute on our Firestone Red tire run, but the speed is clearly in the car, so we’ll go back and figure out some of the changes that we did. Did we go the wrong way, do we need more analysis–just to make sure we really know where we are from a set up perspective. But I think we’ll be okay; we’ll sleep on it and figure out how to execute on the alternative tires. The speed is there. It’s just about execution, and we’ll plan on that for Qualifying tomorrow.”
TEAM PENSKE
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet:
“It was a pretty good day. I felt pretty good about our car. It looks like we have speed in all three cars, so happy with what Chevrolet’s brought and what the team’s brought. It’s going to be another hot one, but everybody feels rested and ready for a strong weekend.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet:
“Overall, a pretty good start. Our Chevy is OK. It’s not the best right now, but we’re slowly getting it back in the window. We’ll be right there tomorrow.”
Will Power (and Colton Herta)
Post practice press conference
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Wrapping up today’s practice session ahead of Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
THE MODERATOR: Joined by Will Power as well, back at the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, the 2021 Race 1 winner here at Mid-Ohio, five-time pole winner as well, quickest in the all-car session to lead off this practice session. What did you learn?
WILL POWER: Actually, the car was pretty good. Yeah, didn’t get a good run on reds, but hopefully in a good window.
THE MODERATOR: Sounds like Josef had a strong car as well. Maybe it’s shaping up for a good week for Team Penske perhaps?
WILL POWER: Could be.
Q. Will, Team Penske today announced their organizational lineup, a lot of guys you’ve worked with in the past. How do you feel about having Jonathan Diuguid at the top with Travis Law?
WILL POWER: Two quality people. They’ve been there as long as I have, longer, so very quality guys.
Q. Also the fact that a guy that you knew very well is back, Kyle Moyer, he’s working with Arrow McLaren. From a personal standpoint, how happy do you feel to see him back with an INDYCAR team?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think everyone’s happy to see him in the paddock. Everyone knows Kyle is very good at what he does, and he’s a great guy. I’m happy to see him in the paddock.
Q. Question for both of you. What was the biggest challenge that you faced on track today?
WILL POWER: Probably people backing off, simply. It’s incredible, yeah.
Q. It looked like all the spins out there were due to rear grip issues. Was there anything different about the rear grip today that was causing that, or is it just how it comes off this track?
WILL POWER: It’s really hard to catch the car once it gets to a certain point. With that weight, it just, phew, just keeps going. You keep sliding, and then you get to the edge of the dirtiest part of the line. Had it happen at Elkhart Lake, just so much weight to control and catch.
Q. For both of you, just with the change in the banking in turn 4, how much of a difference, if any, did that make?
WILL POWER: It didn’t feel that different. I think there’s probably less of a chance to pass on the outside now because there’s no bank in there. It was honestly pretty similar to me.
Q. I just also wanted to ask how your Iowa test went, and what are the challenges next week on the doubleheader weekend now?
WILL POWER: The challenge is being able to hold on for a stint. They’ve just added so much downforce. It’s so stuck that it’s actually painful. I did half stint, and I’m like, man, I didn’t know if I could actually continue. Like I think there’s going to be people like stopping just because it’s so painful. It’s too much, too much grip.
COLTON HERTA: Yeah, I agree. It’s going to be extremely physical. Maybe that changes in the race. Maybe people save fuel a little bit more. The race pace will slow down from what we’re doing at the test, but how much — because we have to do it twice. It’s going to be a rough one.
Q. I’ve got one for both the boys actually. It’s kind of a follow-on about the changes that have been made to the track. Is that going to make passing or defending better? I’ve heard some comments that maybe that makes it more of a defending type series of corners rather than passing opportunities. Will it limit passing around this track?
WILL POWER: Turn 4, is that what you mean?
Q. Yes.
WILL POWER: It might take away the outside pass there, yeah. It will be interesting to see. Maybe there’s some deg this year. I think there will be, which always creates quicker racing.
Q. Just quickly for Will, do we feel that maybe this weekend might be the first Chevy breakthrough of the season, where it’s been dominated by Honda so much this year? Do we feel that maybe Chevy is on a more level playing field here after today’s practice?
WILL POWER: No, this is a Honda track, so I have zero — I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe we — I don’t know. I would have said like four races ago we were going to win one. It’s a bit shocking that we haven’t. It’s very difficult to say. We’ll do our best.
Q. At Road America it was such an exciting race and a lot of places to pass with on the long straightaways. You don’t quite have that here, but now they’ve added 10 laps to the race to 90 laps. I’m just wondering if that would kind of force everyone to maybe do three pit stops? Are you going to be able to just go full bore the whole time and not save a lot of fuel?
COLTON HERTA: No, it’s not going to force everybody to do three stops. It’s splitting. There will be — it’s tough because these races, they kind of suck when you qualify up front because you have to choose the right strategy, and if you don’t choose it, then you end up at the back. It reminds me of how Belle Isle was. It was a very lucky race to win, unless it was fully green. There’s so many ways to get caught in the yellow. That’s what this race will turn into.
It’s probably split between the two stop into three stop, maybe favoring — probably favoring the three stop a little bit more, I think. It just gives opportunities for, if you qualify well and you’re on the wrong strategy, it could burn you pretty big.
He’s (Power) probably been burned by that the most out of anybody in INDYCAR that I’ve seen from yellows and stuff, like from 2012 and 2013.
WILL POWER: 15 more wins.
COLTON HERTA: Yeah, honestly, that might be a little light.
WILL POWER: That’s the other side of it. He’s (Dixon) the one that benefits.
COLTON HERTA: I think, if you’re somebody who qualifies up front, which I like to think I qualify up front a lot out here, it hurts you a little bit more. For the viewers, I think it will make the race a little bit more interesting. Maybe tougher to follow, but more interesting for the outcome.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming out. Appreciate your time. Good luck tomorrow in qualifying.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES on track tomorrow morning 10:30 eastern time, qualifying at 2:30. Both available in the United States on FS1. Thanks, everyone. Have a great rest of your night.
Chevrolet at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Chevrolet wins at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 12
2024 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2022 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske (pictured above)
2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske
2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2014 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing
1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske
1992 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1988 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick Racing
Chevrolet poles at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 13
2022 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske
2019 – Will Power – Team Penske
2017 – Will Power – Team Penske
2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2015 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing
2014 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology
2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global
2012 – Will Power – Team Penske
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske
Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 33
Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (7), Emerson Fittipaldi (4), Michael Andretti (3), Josef Newgarden (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Mario Andretti (2), Scott McLaughlin (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Sebastien Bourdais (1), Rick Mears (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Bob Rahal (1), Danny Sullivan (1) and Paul Tracy (1).
Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (19), Newman Haas Racing (6), Galles Racing (4), Arrow McLaren (1), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), KV Racing Technology (1) and Patrick Racing (1)
Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 1034
Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (178), Emerson Fittipaldi (168), Michael Andretti (152), Scott Dixon (67), Pato O’Ward (52), Scott McLaughlin (49), Mario Andretti (44), Sebastien Bourdais (38), Ryan Hunter-Reay (30), Juan Montoya (30), Simon Pagenaud (23), Paul Tracy (23), Al Unser Jr. (11), Helio Castroneves (6), James Hinchcliffe (2), and Danny Sullivan (2)
Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (573), Newman Haas Racing (196), Chip Ganassi Racing (67), Patrick Racing (63), Arrow McLaren (52), KV Racing Technology (38), Andretti Global (32), Galles Racing (11), and Ed Carpenter Racing (2)
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Manufacturer history at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Wins (with competition)
12 – Chevrolet (2024, 2022, 2021, 2020 Race #1, 2017, 2016, 2014, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989)
12 – Honda (2023, 2020 Race #2, 2019, 2018, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2001, 2000, 1999 1997, 1996)
6 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1986, 1984, 1983, 1980)
2 – Ford (2002, 1998)
1 – Ilmor (1994)
1 – Mercedes (1995)
1 – Porsche (1989)
Poles (with competition)
13 – Chevrolet (2022, 2021, 2020 Race #1, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 1991, 1990, 1988)
9 – Honda (2024, 2023 2020 Race #2, 2018, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996)
6 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1980)
5 – Ford (2002, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1992)
1 – Ilmor (1994)
1 – Porsche (1989)
INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturer Championships (since 1979)
Chevrolet-Powered Wins in the Twin-Turbo 2.2L V6 Era (2012-present)
Chevrolet-Powered Wins (All-time)
About General Motors
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