Arrow McLaren prepping Linus Lundqvist as potential replacement for Nolan Siegel at Toronto
Siegel was not cleared for Sunday's race by IndyCar medical officials that morning. Given the short break between the races and belief late Saturday that Siegel would be cleared, Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan opted not to run Siegel's No. 6 car Sunday.
Doing so would've required requesting from IndyCar a special 15-minute shakedown session with a substitute driver on Saturday night, Kanaan said. And given the car repair time in the wake of Siegel's crash — one so hard that the SAFER barrier required repairs — the team principal didn't want the team scrambling with so much uncertainty.
'I missed it': Ex-Team Penske IndyCar leader relishing new chapter with Arrow McLaren
Arrow McLaren briefly explored the possibility of Kanaan starting Sunday's race and parking immediately after the green flag, but IndyCar wouldn't approve such a move because Kanaan hadn't taken part in an on-track session during the weekend. An emergency on-track session wasn't available Sunday morning.
Lundqvist was at Iowa Speedway on Sunday. The 26-year-old Swedish driver with 20 IndyCar starts will ready himself this week for what could amount to his first time inside an IndyCar cockpit since the 2024 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.
As Kanaan told select media Sunday morning ahead of that day's race, Lundqvist will be in the team's shop throughout this week as Siegel is put through a regimented recovery plan that includes light workouts, time on a racing simulator and evaluation by Ryan Harber, the team's head of human performance, health and wellness. Siegel will be reevaluated by IndyCar's medical team Thursday morning to determine his ability to drive in Toronto.
How close was Tony Kanaan to driving?: Nolan Siegel's status, possible backup drivers for Toronto
Lundqvist will be with the team all weekend and available should Siegel experience any discomfort in his return or if he isn't cleared.
Lundqvist finished 13th in his lone start at Toronto a year ago. He finished 16th in points in his lone full-time IndyCar season in 2024 with five top-10s, a pair of podiums (Barber and World Wide Technology Raceway) and a pole (Road America), but he entered this season without a ride after CGR scaled back from five full-time cars to three as IndyCar launched its charter system that caps teams at three full-time entries guaranteed to start each race (minus the Indy 500).
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4 hours ago
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Practice Shots: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
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Rossi is back for this weekend's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio Network), expecting family in attendance, a dynamic that brings added responsibilities off the track. This weekend is also unique in that Java House, the primary sponsor of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, is also the title sponsor of the event. 'It's busier,' Rossi said. 'It's kind of reminiscent of a week of May schedule in some respects. But it's also a good problem to have. 'It's not something that any of us should complain about. You just manage it. The team does a really good job of making sure there's adequate time to focus on the engineering and performance side, meeting the obligations that Java House and that whole group will set out.' Rossi, an eight-time winner in the series, is 13 races into his first season with Ed Carpenter Racing following 147 combined races with Andretti Global (2016-2022) and Arrow McLaren (2023-2024). 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Devlin DeFrancesco, Rossi, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden each had off-track excursions during the session. · Pato O'Ward carried his momentum into Monterey by leading the opening practice session. Championship points leader Alex Palou was fourth in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The two have gone head-to-head on natural road courses this season, finishing 1-2 with Palou beating O'Ward on two separate occasions. continued this momentum by leading the opening practice session. · Palou and Colton Herta have combined to win four of the last five Laguna Seca races. Herta was second fastest in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global. He finished runner-up to Palou last year. RLL Poised for Laguna Seca Breakout Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing believes it's poised for a breakout. Maybe that comes in this weekend's 95-lap race. Team owner Bobby Rahal knows the 2.238-mile circuit well – he is the all-time winningest driver at Laguna Seca with four victories(1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) and also earned his first major race win at the track in the 1979 Can-Am Series. His son, Graham Rahal (No. 15 WWEX Group Honda) is one of only six drivers -- Palou, Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, andKyle Kirkwood -- to reach the Firestone Fast Six at least four times this season, with all of Rahal's appearances coming in the last five races. He finished fourth at the Monterey track in 2021 and enters off a seventh-place finish last week in Toronto. Rahal's teammate Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) has made it to the final round three times, while DeFrancesco (No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda) has done so once. DeFranceso crashed early in the session but remains confident about his prospects for the rest of the weekend. He noted the car felt strong before the incident and expects to be competitive on Saturday. Foster, who was ninth fastest on Friday, is also the only rookie to advance to the Firestone Fast Six this season, highlighted by his maiden NTT P1 Award at Road America, a session where Rahal also made the final round and qualified fifth. The British driver has raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca four times in INDY NXT by Firestone, winning both races in 2024 from pole position. McLaren Moves Into Andretti Global's Former Shop Arrow McLaren took ownership this week of its future NTT INDYCAR SERIES headquarters and has begun renovations on the facility located on the west side of Indianapolis. The project will nearly triple the size of the team's current Indianapolis based race shop. The organization purchased Andretti Global's former facility and is expanding it from 74,000 square feet to 86,000 square feet. In comparison, Arrow McLaren's current shop operates out of a 33,000-square-foot space. 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Since the series returned in 2019 after a 15-year hiatus (2005–2018), the winning drivers have started from first, first, 11th, 11th, and first on the grid, respectively. · Palou was third quickest in both pre-qualifying practice sessions last year. He'd go on to claim pole position and convert that into the race win. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda) was third on Friday. He has four top-seven finishes on natural road courses in 2025 and seven top-10 finishes in his last nine races overall. · Arrow McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard and Andretti INDY NXT Team Principal, Rob Edwards, join FOX Sports INDY NXT by Firestone coverage this weekend. Lundgaard is the analyst for Saturday's 35-lap race and Edwards for Sunday. recommended Item 1 of 1
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Practice Shots: Alexander Rossi, Rest of Field Get Friday Look at Laguna Seca
INDYCAR Alexander Rossi considers WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca his home track. The 33-year-old grew up in Nevada City, California, just under four hours from the scenic road course. His first visit came at the age three, when his father, Pieter, brought him to the famed Monterey circuit. While Rossi doesn't remember much from that early experience, the trips continued as he grew older, ultimately inspiring his path into motorsports. "That's just something we did every year -- go to the CART race at Laguna," Rossi said. "I fell in love with the sport.' One of those visits proved pivotal. "When I was 10 years old, we were walking around the exhibitors, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway had a booth,' Rossi said. 'They were offering a sign-up sheet for a three-day go-kart clinic. It was actually my 10th birthday, and we signed up right there at the track. The rest is kind of history." Rossi is back for this weekend's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio Network), expecting family in attendance, a dynamic that brings added responsibilities off the track. This weekend is also unique in that Java House, the primary sponsor of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, is also the title sponsor of the event. 'It's busier,' Rossi said. 'It's kind of reminiscent of a week of May schedule in some respects. But it's also a good problem to have. 'It's not something that any of us should complain about. You just manage it. The team does a really good job of making sure there's adequate time to focus on the engineering and performance side, meeting the obligations that Java House and that whole group will set out.' Rossi, an eight-time winner in the series, is 13 races into his first season with Ed Carpenter Racing following 147 combined races with Andretti Global (2016-2022) and Arrow McLaren (2023-2024). He's 18th in points with four top-10 finishes. Despite a rough start to the weekend, hitting the Turn 6 barrier during Friday's practice, Rossi remains optimistic. His track record at Laguna Seca is solid with a third-place finish in 2024, his third straight at the track. 'To be able to have a home race and the car that I drive is also the title sponsor of the event is sort of like a perfect dream scenario,' Rossi said. Drivers Get First Look at Laguna Seca Here are three observations about the first practice in preparation for Sunday's 95-lap race. · The Laguna Seca racing surface was notoriously abrasive -- a cheese grater of a track that delivered thrilling races as drivers tiptoed around the 2.238-mile road course. A 2023 repave changed the dynamic, changing how drivers approached the circuit in recent years. But Friday's session showed that the track is once again proving tricky, with several drivers overstepping the limit and noticing increased tire wear. Devlin DeFrancesco, Rossi, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden each had off-track excursions during the session. · Pato O'Ward carried his momentum into Monterey by leading the opening practice session. Championship points leader Alex Palou was fourth in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The two have gone head-to-head on natural road courses this season, finishing 1-2 with Palou beating O'Ward on two separate occasions. continued this momentum by leading the opening practice session. · Palou and Colton Herta have combined to win four of the last five Laguna Seca races. Herta was second fastest in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global. He finished runner-up to Palou last year. RLL Poised for Laguna Seca Breakout Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing believes it's poised for a breakout. Maybe that comes in this weekend's 95-lap race. Team owner Bobby Rahal knows the 2.238-mile circuit well – he is the all-time winningest driver at Laguna Seca with four victories(1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) and also earned his first major race win at the track in the 1979 Can-Am Series. His son, Graham Rahal (No. 15 WWEX Group Honda) is one of only six drivers -- Palou, Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, andKyle Kirkwood -- to reach the Firestone Fast Six at least four times this season, with all of Rahal's appearances coming in the last five races. He finished fourth at the Monterey track in 2021 and enters off a seventh-place finish last week in Toronto. Rahal's teammate Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) has made it to the final round three times, while DeFrancesco (No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda) has done so once. DeFranceso crashed early in the session but remains confident about his prospects for the rest of the weekend. He noted the car felt strong before the incident and expects to be competitive on Saturday. Foster, who was ninth fastest on Friday, is also the only rookie to advance to the Firestone Fast Six this season, highlighted by his maiden NTT P1 Award at Road America, a session where Rahal also made the final round and qualified fifth. The British driver has raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca four times in INDY NXT by Firestone, winning both races in 2024 from pole position. McLaren Moves Into Andretti Global's Former Shop Arrow McLaren took ownership this week of its future NTT INDYCAR SERIES headquarters and has begun renovations on the facility located on the west side of Indianapolis. The project will nearly triple the size of the team's current Indianapolis based race shop. The organization purchased Andretti Global's former facility and is expanding it from 74,000 square feet to 86,000 square feet. In comparison, Arrow McLaren's current shop operates out of a 33,000-square-foot space. The team plans to move into the new facility in January, ahead of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. JM Bullion Expands Kirkwood, Andretti Global Partnership JM Bullion joined Andretti Global as a sponsor on Kyle Kirkwood's No. 27 Honda for last weekend's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, where Kirkwood started and finished in sixth place. This week, Andretti Global announced that JM Bullion will continue as a sponsor for this weekend's race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as the Grand Prix of Portland on August 10. Kirkwood was seventh-fastest on Friday. Odds and Ends · The series returns to the track Saturday for practice at 11:30 a.m. ET and NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both air on FS1, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. · Saturday holds significant importance, as 23 of the 27 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Laguna Seca have been won from a top-three starting position. Since the series returned in 2019 after a 15-year hiatus (2005–2018), the winning drivers have started from first, first, 11th, 11th, and first on the grid, respectively. · Palou was third quickest in both pre-qualifying practice sessions last year. He'd go on to claim pole position and convert that into the race win. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda) was third on Friday. He has four top-seven finishes on natural road courses in 2025 and seven top-10 finishes in his last nine races overall. · Arrow McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard and Andretti INDY NXT Team Principal, Rob Edwards, join FOX Sports INDY NXT by Firestone coverage this weekend. Lundgaard is the analyst for Saturday's 35-lap race and Edwards for Sunday. recommended Item 1 of 1
Fox Sports
6 hours ago
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Carli Lloyd Knows Big Games. Here's Why She Thinks Spain Has The Edge Over England In Euro Final
When it comes to playing in high-stakes tournaments and finals, few can match Carli Lloyd. I spoke with the U.S. women's national team legend and FOX Sports analyst about the UEFA 2025 Women's Euro. Who has stood out? Why have penalties been such a hot topic. And, who'll win Sunday's blockbuster final? Which players have stood out or impressed you the most? Carli Lloyd: The big ones are easy to talk about, but I would probably have to say Patri Guijarro from Spain is No. 1. She's been the engine and she's been brilliant in the middle. I think all of the attacking players usually get all the praise and the hype and whatnot, but she's been absolutely crucial to the Spanish side's attack with her link play and ability to read the game. Not just keeping possession for the sake of keeping possession, but forward progressive passes that she makes. So it's been really, really cool to see. And obviously she's been having a really good year [for Barcelona]. Then with the likes of Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas, who are having great tournaments, some other Spanish players fly a bit more under the radar. I think [Barcelona forward] Claudia Pina has been having an outstanding season, which has carried over into this tournament for Spain. She was the only real bright attacking threat against Switzerland and scored an unbelievable goal. Her ability to attack players on the dribble and unleash her signature shot has made her into a deadly attacker. And I would have to highlight [England's 19-year-old forward] Michelle Agyemang. I think people are calling for her to be starting, or this and that. I don't think she should be starting [yet]. I think she's still young, and she has a bright future and I think that with young players, you often have to be a bit delicate to the situation of when to kind of give them that freedom. And I think she's come on and she's been absolutely crucial, scoring big-time goals and just her ability to get in behind and embrace the moment. The moments don't seem too big for her and she's a bright spot that has been really enjoyable to watch. Penalty kicks have been a hot topic. What has stood out to you? CL: What I found interesting was [France manager Laurent Bonadei and Sweden manager Peter Gerhardssen] said they weren't too focused on penalties [due to the unpredictability of knowing which teams would be at the tournament]. I don't think that a lot of us have witnessed a worse penalty shootout [than the one between England and Sweden in the quarterfinal]. It's happened on the men's side. And look, it happens to the best of us, missing penalties. But for me, reading what the Swedish coach had said, it didn't seem like there was much preparation that was going into it. And I was pretty shocked because I felt if it were going into penalties, I thought Sweden was going to have the upper hand in experience because they've been there and done that. Going back to 2023 World Cup [in the round of 16 shootout against the U.S.], they were sharp and they got it done. So I was a bit surprised by that. How did you approach penalties during your career? CL: I just look at our team over the years and how much prep went into penalties. I mean, time and time again, we had crazy crowd noise in the stadium that we were [piping in], and we had competitions against one another, and we'd have scrimmages and we would do penalties after every time we scrimmaged the boys or scrimmaged ourselves. So there was just a lot of preparation that went into it. You have to kind of wonder when multiple players are missing what that does to the psyche of one's mind. You start to get in your head a little bit more, so I think that probably played a bit of a role. But [England right-back] Lucy Bronze at the end there and that particular penalty was just stone-cold. She knew where she was going, and she just put it away. I think some of the other players, maybe the run-ups are a little off. I think people are probably tweaking their penalties from time to time, but that's what I took away from it. What were the biggest penalties that you ever made and missed? CL: We all made ours [in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal shootout vs. Brazil] and then we had to prepare for another [shootout] in the final against Japan. And I think all of us weren't sure if we should keep our same spot or change our spot, and was the Japanese goalkeeper going to know where we were all going? So there were mind games going on within our heads. [In the final] Shannon Boxx missed hers, and then I step up and I miss mine. And then Tobin [Heath] missed hers [and we lost]. From that instance on, I knew that I had to do more preparation and I had to practice PKs more. I had to be comfortable going any spot. Then I would have to say the 2015 World Cup semifinal vs. Germany and having to make that [was the biggest]. (Lloyd converted a penalty in the 69th minute to score the USWNT's first goal in a 2-0 win.) What are you looking forward to most about Spain vs. England? CL: It's interesting. England really haven't played well. I don't like to use the word luck, but I do feel like they've had some things fall in the right direction for them in order to get it done. But they've also shown such tremendous resiliency and perseverance that I feel like I haven't seen as much from them [in the past]. It almost reminds me of the U.S. over the years. We weren't necessarily the best team or playing the best, but we were somehow finding ways to win and sometimes that's all you need. And then I look at the Spanish side where I feel like they've been playing beautiful football. Yes, Switzerland made it difficult for them in the way that they defended and put them under pressure, and Germany did as well. But I still think those moments of brilliance and individual brilliance – I believe there's a bit of a gap as far as the way Spain play. So it's just going to be really tactically interesting to see what England are going to do. If they're going to take the blueprint from Switzerland and Germany and make things compact and make things difficult for Spain to play. We saw Spain having to play a bit more direct vs. Germany. The way Spain have evolved from 2019 to now is they can beat you in a variety of ways. They can possess the ball, they can play direct, they can hunt you down. I'm just a fan of this final, so I hope that it's a really good game, that it's entertaining, and there are a lot of amazing stars that are going to be on the field playing. What's your Euros final prediction? CL: I find this one really difficult. I think Spain are the clear front-runner and they have been, and I've said that from the beginning [of this tournament]. But as we've seen, on any given day – I mean look at Germany playing down a man for some 100 minutes [in the quarterfinal vs. France] and their performance. I was not high on Germany for the entire tournament up until that point and then what they displayed will be talked about for decades to come. So I am going to go with Spain just given the history and what they've been doing this tournament. I think they have weathered adversity and still found ways to win. I think England look a bit tired and they're all a bit banged up. So I think Spain have the extra edge there. Are Spain and England the two strongest teams in the world? How would a full-strength USWNT team stack up? CL: I do think overall from this tournament that the two best teams are in the final. Doesn't mean that it's the two best teams that have been playing the best football, but when you look at everything and you look at manager Sarina Wiegman, the subs coming off the bench, the way England have been able to pull off some off these wins, that ultimately is what makes teams the best. And Spain, there's no question. If you just look at the way that they play, I think they're above everyone by a pretty decent margin. Yes, the U.S. won the last Olympics and Emma Hayes has done a phenomenal job with this group. I think that they're definitely heading in the right direction. I still think they really haven't been up against the European giants, which would be really interesting to see. [Right now] they may be third or fourth [best team in the world], hovering around there behind Spain and England. But time will tell in that regard. Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman . Get more from the UEFA Euro Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
