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Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Climate
- Fox Sports
Due to Weather, Laguna Seca Schedule Adjusted; Qualifying Up Next
INDYCAR The morning marine layer covering WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca forced NTT INDYCAR SERIES officials to cancel the weekend's second practice and move the third and final practice to later today. The next session will be qualifying for the NTT P1 Award today at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The preparation is for Sunday's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey, which will be live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The 95-lap race will be the 14th of 17 events this season. Due to the potential weather constraints for Sunday morning, the pre-race warmup practice will be held today at 7 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FS2. Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou holds a 99-point lead over Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward for the season championship. O'Ward had the fastest lap in Friday's practice; Palou's best lap ranked fourth among the 27 car-and-driver combinations. recommended Item 1 of 1
Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Alex Palou Still in Command, Pato O'Ward Hot as Laguna Seca Awaits
INDYCAR One of the business months in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history comes to a close this weekend with the annual visit to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The series will have raced each weekend of the month, and Sunday's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey will be the fifth race. That means just under 30 percent of the season has been contested this month. This will be 28th time the sport has staged a race in picturesque hills of Monterey. Historically, Team Penske has been the most successful organization on this 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit, but Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou won last year's race with Andretti Global's Colton Herta and Arrow McLaren's Alexander Rossi joining him on the podium. Practice begins at 5 p.m. ET Friday (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Saturday's action airs live on FS1, with the weekend's second practice at 11:30 a.m. ET and qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at 2:30 p.m. ET. Sunday's 95-lap race will air live on FOX at 3 p.m. ET. A look at the storylines: Palou's Lead is Still Strong O'Ward sliced 30 points off Palou's series lead in last weekend's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto with a combination of his victory and Palou's 12th-place finish. By any measure, that was a significant gain, but Palou is still in command of the championship standings with four races remaining. In fact, Palou can virtually clinch his third consecutive series title and fourth in five years by scoring the maximum number of points this weekend coupled with a low finish by O'Ward. Winning the pole and leading the most race laps in victory will put the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in such a position that he will receive the Astor Challenge Cup at season's end by only competing in the final three races (Aug. 10 at Portland International Raceway, Aug. 24 at The Milwaukee Mile and Aug. 31 at Nashville Superspeedway). It can be argued that Laguna Seca is Palou's best track on the schedule. He has raced there four times and finished second, first, third and first, all with Chip Ganassi's team. Palou won the race in 2022 by more than 30 seconds, one of the sport's most convincing victories in a decade. Palou also has won two races in Portland, so yes, he should still like his title chances. O'Ward Hottest Driver of Late The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet has won two of the past three races and has the best chance to catch Palou for the title. (There are only two other drivers mathematically eligible to win the championship: Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood is 173 points out of the lead, Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon trails by 174.) O'Ward will need at least three more races to go as well for him as Toronto did, and that's a big ask. Still, he has won multiple races for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in five years, and he is on pace to finish a career-best second in the standings. Laguna Seca hasn't been the best track for O'Ward. Yes, he has finished in the top 10 in each of his four starts, but his best result is a fifth in 2021 and his average finish is 7.5. It will take significantly more than that to put pressure on Palou. O'Ward, Herta in a Race for No. 10 Not since boyhood friends Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan arrived in North America in November 1995 have two drivers in this country had their careers more intricately linked than O'Ward and Herta. It's uncertain when O'Ward and Herta first shared the same racetrack, but it likely was in karting in 2010. Both reached INDY NXT by Firestone in 2017, with Herta finishing third in the championship driving for Andretti Steinbrenner Racing while O'Ward only got four races with Team Pelfrey. They stayed in the series another year, becoming teammates at Andretti Autosport. They finished 1-2 in the standings with O'Ward taking the title. In September of 2018, the Steinbrenner-backed drivers were introduced at Yankee Stadium as the new drivers of Harding Racing, and they made their series debuts in the final race of the 2018 season at Sonoma Raceway. O'Ward finished ninth, Herta 20th. They were to race as teammates the next year, but Mike Harding's team only had sponsorship for Herta. O'Ward joined the Carlin team. Fast forward to now, and this statistic is crazy: O'Ward and Herta each have nine career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories. Their race to a 10th series win is on. The Rookie of the Year Battle Guess what other statistical category is tied: The 2025 Rookie of the Year battle. That's right: PREMA Racing's Robert Shwartzman and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Louis Foster have exactly the same number of points as the season heads to its final four races. Each has 159 points. Currently, Shwartzman has the tiebreaker based on the best race finish to date: He finished ninth in the second race of the Synk INDYCAR Race Weekend doubleheader, the Farm to Finish 275 at Iowa Speedway. Foster has a pair of 11th-place finishes this season. There are eight drivers in this 27-car field who have earned top-rookie honors: Dixon (2001), Will Power (2006), Alexander Rossi (2016), Felix Rosenqvist (2019), Rinus VeeKay (2020), Scott McLaughlin (2021), Christian Lundgaard (2022) and Marcus Armstrong (2023). FOX broadcaster James Hinchcliffe was a Rookie of the Year winner in 2011. Bobby Rahal, a co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, won the award in 1982 and Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan did so in 1998. Hybrid in Use for First Time at Laguna Seca INDYCAR's hybrid technology, which was introduced a year ago this month, will be in action for the first time at this track. Last year, this race was in June. The hybrid assist along with the long-used Push to Pass system gives drivers an additional 120-plus horsepower to utilize. More horsepower changes the car's handling. Based on projected fuel mileage and tire efficiency, this is expected to be a three-stop race with some teams possibly making four stops given the short amount of time lost on pit road. recommended Item 1 of 1
Fox Sports
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Pato O'Ward Wins Toronto, Slices Alex Palou's Lead by 30 Points
INDYCAR Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward isn't ready to concede the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship just yet. The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet drove that point home in Sunday's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto by winning his second race in eight days as Palou finished 12th. SEE: Race Results Palou entered the weekend with a 129-point lead over O'Ward, the largest leader's margin this point system has ever seen this deep in a season. But 30 points evaporated at Exhibition Place, dropping their separation to 99 points with four races remaining. A race win can be worth as many as 54 points. 'Oh, man, I can't say I saw this (win) coming,' O'Ward said. 'But I was feeling so good on the (primary) tires all weekend really. We were just struggling to get the alternates to work in qualifying. Sadly, that's the one you need to transfer. 'But I knew we had a great car under me to race with, and (the crew) nailed it on the strategy.' The win was the first for O'Ward in Toronto and his ninth in the series overall. He started the race in the 10th position but felt luck was going to be with him after a bird dropped an unlikely present on the car and a crew member in the morning practice. 'That's going to be a good day today, and it was,' the Mexican driver said. 'I'm stoked for everybody (on the team). I would have never expected to have gone this much better in Toronto because it's been the most challenging circuit for us in the past.' Joining O'Ward on the podium were a pair of drivers scoring season-making finishes. Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) finished second with Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finishing third. VeeKay scored his fifth career podium finish but first since a race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. Simpson earned the prestigious spot for the first time in his two years in the series. NTT P1 Award winner Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), who won last year's race, finished fourth to lead a contingent of Andretti Global drivers. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda) and Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. This was a race of different strategies. O'Ward was in the majority starting with a set of the less-favorable alternate Firestone Firehawk tires, and he was able to have them removed with a stop just ahead of the Lap 3 caution. Thus, he only had to use that set for the better part of two green-flag laps and while that forced him into a three-stop strategy, he was able to run the primary compound the rest of the way. Palou started second, and he and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon were among the few starting on the primaries. Given an assortment and length of caution periods in the first half of the race, the strategy had a strong chance of working out. But ultimately, it didn't, with both CGR drivers reduced to spending the final segment mid-pack. Dixon finished 10th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 'Well, I chose the strategy, so that's what we did wrong today,' Palou said. 'I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best opportunity to win. I wanted to be up front trying to avoid being trapped in traffic. 'Honestly, (days like this) happen. We knew it was going to be a risky strategy rather than starting on alternates. It was kind of working. We were able to open up a big gap after that first yellow, but it was not enough today. Not our day.' Palou still has reason to be optimistic. Of the four races left on the schedule, he has won twice at each of the next two road courses: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2022 and 2024) and Portland International Raceway (2021 and 2023). O'Ward won last year's race at The Milwaukee Mile, which hosts the third of the season's final four. The combination of the various tire strategies in play and Toronto's tight confines around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit created action aplenty, and there seemed to be contact of some degree at every corner. It was arguably the most exciting of the four street races this year, with 226 on-track passes (most in the event since 2014) and 201 passes for position (most since 2019). Both totals were fourth-most overall for racing on the downtown streets of this Ontario city. Often in the middle of the action was Team Penske, which saw its challenging season continue. First, the left rear lug nut of Scott McLaughlin's car came off following a pit stop, pushing the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet into the Turn 2 wall. Then, Josef Newgarden and his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet were collected by an incident that started with Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel (No. 51 Abel Construction Honda) taking light contact from fellow first-year Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) in Turn 1. In the mess that ensued, Abel's car landed on top of Newgarden's. Later, Will Power's No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet lost a side-by-side battle in Turn 3, hitting the left-side wall. Roger Penske's drivers finished 11th (Power), 23rd (Newgarden) and 26th (McLaughlin). Ed Carpenter Racing also had a difficult day, with both Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet) and Alexander Rossi (No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet) hitting the wall with right-rear tires. Rasmussen was side by side with Power at the time; Rossi appeared to veer to the right after bouncing over a bump. Unfortunately for Rossi, a section of the concrete barrier split that corner of the car apart, creating a significant amount of damage and debris. The race ended under caution when the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Felix Rosenqvist wiggled and was struck from behind by Nolan Siegel's No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That ended Rosenqvist's day as he had twice taken front-wing damage due to contact with Power. Only 26 car-and-driver combinations took the green flag as Santino Ferrucci and his No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet were held out of the race due to a damaged car and a bruised right hand in the morning practice. Ferrucci hit the Turn 7 wall on the left side, sending the car sliding into the Turn 8 run-off area. All four corners of the car were damaged with only about three hours to make repairs. Besides, Ferrucci's right hand was badly bruised and swollen. Practice for the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca begins Friday at 5 p.m. ET (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 95-lap race, the 14th of the 17-race season, is Sunday at 3 p.m. on FOX. recommended Item 1 of 1
Fox Sports
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Pato O'Ward Wins Toronto, Slices Alex Palou's Big Lead by 30 Points
INDYCAR Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward isn't ready to concede the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship just yet. The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet drove that point home in Sunday's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto by winning his second race in eight days as Palou finished 12th. SEE: Race Results Palou entered the weekend with a 129-point lead over O'Ward, the largest leader's margin this point system has ever seen this deep in a season. But 30 points evaporated at Exhibition Place, dropping their separation to 99 points with four races remaining. A race win can be worth as many as 54 points. 'Oh, man, I can't say I saw this (win) coming,' O'Ward said. 'But I was feeling so good on the (primary) tires all weekend really. We were just struggling to get the alternates to work in qualifying. Sadly, that's the one you need to transfer. 'But I knew we had a great car under me to race with, and (the crew) nailed it on the strategy.' The win was the first for O'Ward in Toronto and his ninth in the series overall. He started the race in the 10th position but felt luck was going to be with him after a bird dropped an unlikely present on the car and a crew member in the morning practice. 'That's going to be a good day today, and it was,' the Mexican driver said. 'I'm stoked for everybody (on the team). I would have never expected to have gone this much better in Toronto because it's been the most challenging circuit for us in the past.' Joining O'Ward on the podium were a pair of drivers scoring season-making finishes. Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) finished second with Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finishing third. VeeKay scored his fifth career podium finish but first since a race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. Simpson earned the prestigious spot for the first time in his two years in the series. NTT P1 Award winner Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), who won last year's race, finished fourth to lead a contingent of Andretti Global drivers. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda) and Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. This was a race of different strategies. O'Ward was in the majority starting with a set of the less-favorable alternate Firestone Firehawk tires, and he was able to have them removed with a stop just ahead of the Lap 3 caution. Thus, he only had to use that set for the better part of two green-flag laps and while that forced him into a three-stop strategy, he was able to run the primary compound the rest of the way. Palou started second, and he and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon were among the few starting on the primaries. Given an assortment and length of caution periods in the first half of the race, the strategy had a strong chance of working out. But ultimately, it didn't, with both CGR drivers reduced to spending the final segment mid-pack. Dixon finished 10th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 'Well, I chose the strategy, so that's what we did wrong today,' Palou said. 'I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best opportunity to win. I wanted to be up front trying to avoid being trapped in traffic. 'Honestly, (days like this) happen. We knew it was going to be a risky strategy rather than starting on alternates. It was kind of working. We were able to open up a big gap after that first yellow, but it was not enough today. Not our day.' Palou still has reason to be optimistic. Of the four races left on the schedule, he has won twice at each of the next two road courses: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2022 and 2024) and Portland International Raceway (2021 and 2023). O'Ward won last year's race at The Milwaukee Mile, which hosts the third of the season's final four. The combination of the various tire strategies in play and Toronto's tight confines around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit created action aplenty, and there seemed to be contact of some degree at every corner. It was arguably the most exciting of the four street races this year, with 226 on-track passes (most in the event since 2014) and 201 passes for position (most since 2019). Both totals were fourth-most overall for racing on the downtown streets of this Ontario city. Often in the middle of the action was Team Penske, which saw its challenging season continue. First, the left rear lug nut of Scott McLaughlin's car came off following a pit stop, pushing the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet into the Turn 2 wall. Then, Josef Newgarden and his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet were collected by an incident that started with Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel (No. 51 Abel Construction Honda) taking light contact from fellow first-year Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) in Turn 1. In the mess that ensued, Abel's car landed on top of Newgarden's. Later, Will Power's No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet lost a side-by-side battle in Turn 3, hitting the left-side wall. Roger Penske's drivers finished 11th (Power), 23rd (Newgarden) and 26th (McLaughlin). Ed Carpenter Racing also had a difficult day, with both Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet) and Alexander Rossi (No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet) hitting the wall with right-rear tires. Rasmussen was side by side with Power at the time; Rossi appeared to veer to the right after bouncing over a bump. Unfortunately for Rossi, a section of the concrete barrier split that corner of the car apart, creating a significant amount of damage and debris. The race ended under caution when the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Felix Rosenqvist wiggled and was struck from behind by Nolan Siegel's No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That ended Rosenqvist's day as he had twice taken front-wing damage due to contact with Power. Only 26 car-and-driver combinations took the green flag as Santino Ferrucci and his No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet were held out of the race due to a damaged car and a bruised right hand in the morning practice. Ferrucci hit the Turn 7 wall on the left side, sending the car sliding into the Turn 8 run-off area. All four corners of the car were damaged with only about three hours to make repairs. Besides, Ferrucci's right hand was badly bruised and swollen. Practice for the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca begins Friday at 5 p.m. ET (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 95-lap race, the 14th of the 17-race season, is Sunday at 3 p.m. on FOX. recommended Item 1 of 1
Fox Sports
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Warming Up: Everyone Will Be Chasing Colton Herta Today in Toronto
INDYCAR It has been an Andretti Global weekend at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, with last year's race winner, Colton Herta, winning the NTT P1 Award for the third time in four years and Kyle Kirkwood leading a practice session and earning the sixth starting position for today's race. But in the morning warmup session, it was Arrow McLaren at the front. SEE: Session Results Christian Lundgaard, who won the 2023 race, and Nolan Siegel were 1-2 in the practice, although the times were more than six seconds off Herta's pole-winning pace as teams weren't pushing to the maximum as track conditions were not as they will be when the race is held. The Canadian morning offered a damp surface at Exhibition Place. Herta's best lap was a full 20 seconds slower than he qualified; Kirkwood's was 37 seconds slower. So, those weren't really laps to consider. The lone incident in the 30-minute session was Santino Ferrucci's trouble in Turn 7. The driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet hit the wall hard with the left slide, leading to a long slide into the Turn 8 run-off area. All four corners of the car were damaged, a tall repair ask for the crew with such limited time before the race. The broadcast begins at noon ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The green flag will wave at approximately at 12:22 p.m. The winner of this event has come from the pole each of the past two years and three times in the past four years. This is the fourth and final street race of the season. After qualifying 11th, four-time Toronto winner Scott Dixon will start 17th as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing will serve a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. Dixon is one of five former series winners at Exhibition Place. The others are Team Penske's Will Power (three wins) and Josef Newgarden (two). Single winners are Lundgaard and Herta (2024). This race is 90 laps, which is five more than have been utilized through its history except in 2014 when it was a doubleheader. recommended Item 1 of 1
