Musings From the Weekend: Eight Weekends Down, Seven To Go

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Formula One raced in Spain. There was an American winner in Barcelona. Actually, there were two. A week after Le Mans, another endurance race was waiting at Watkins Glen. NASCAR had a messy race in New Hampshire. Super Formula had an all-domestic affair at Sportsland SUGO, but the weather played a starring role. Álex Palou won the IndyCar race from Laguna Seca, but this weekend marked a turning point in the season. 

Eight Weekends Down, Seven to Go

It isn’t quite the midway point in the 2024 IndyCar season as there are still more races remaining than have been run, but in terms of race weekends, we are entering the second half as eight race weekends are down and seven remain with a pair of doubleheaders ahead of the series. 

Races will come quickly in July, four in a span of 15 days. Before being caught in that whirlwind before the Olympic break, this is a good time to look at how the pieces have fallen and how we could summarize every driver to run multiple IndyCar races this season. Each driver gets a little blurb about how they have run in the first eight races and how we should feel about each heading into the final nine events. 

Álex Palou is the best driver in IndyCar and the only way he doesn’t win this championship is if someone beats him. Palou doesn’t make mistakes. The only race where he hasn’t finished in the top ten in the last 18 months wasn’t because of something he did wrong. Palou was in the wrong place when Josef Newgarden spun at Detroit and Palou was forced to halt and fall to 16th. He is going to finish no worse than eighth the rest of the season. It will require someone to be near flawless to dethrone the Catalan champion. 

It has been a good but not a great season from Will Power, and Power is second in the championship. He has three runner-up finishes and won at Road America, but there hasn’t been a race where Power has felt like the man to beat. He was the third-best car at Road America and played strategy the right way to win. Second in the championship is second in the championship, but it is hard to see Power as a threat when he has one victory over the last two years. 

The biggest threat to Álex Palou is Scott Dixon. It has been a good start to the year for Dixon and he hasn’t had many bad days. With six oval races remaining, the schedule favors Dixon down the stretch. It isn’t guaranteed Dixon will outscore Palou, and Palou is respectable on ovals, but it feels more likely Dixon could go on a run and chip away six points from Palou’s advantage in each race. With a 32-point gap between the two with nine races remaining, Dixon can methodically steal this title from Palou’s grasp to the surprise of no one. 

Colton Herta feels like he should have at least one victory by now, and that is understandable. This has been a big improvement for him and the Andretti Global group, but until there is a race victory it doesn’t feel like any progress has been made. Herta does overstep at times and that is still a flaw. There is a hint of desperation. This group is close. A victory should come his way, at least one would believe so. 

This has been an exceptional season for Kyle Kirkwood. A case could be made for Kirkwood being the best Andretti Global driver this season. His worst finish is 11th. Unfortunately, and this is true for all three Andretti drivers, none have won, and Kirkwood should probably have a victory by now. Andretti Global isn’t the oval powerhouse it once was. The second half of this season isn’t necessarily favorably to this group, however, if they maintain this pace, a victory will come. 

Three years ago, when Patricio O’Ward was a championship contender and going toe-to-toe with Palou, I don’t think anyone thought three years later the only victory he would have in a span of nearly two years would have been inherited after a driver was disqualified due to the greatest rules infraction in modern IndyCar history. O’Ward nearly won the Indianapolis 500. He hasn’t been that close to winning anywhere else lately. Arrow McLaren had a mighty first six races at the start of 2023, and hasn’t been close to that zip code since. 

It has been fine for Alexander Rossi. He has won one race in five years. That isn’t great. But Rossi is seventh in the championship. He has been running well and he has been in the same ballpark as O’Ward all season. We have yet to see Rossi control a race driving for Arrow McLaren. We really haven’t seen him be the clear best driver in a race in almost four years. I would argue his last great drive was the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg, a race Rossi famously loss for on an unforced error. That ability cannot be entirely gone, but when will we see it again? Will we ever?

Team Penske is having a bad season and Scott McLaughlin has taken his share of lumps this season. There have been good days but the penalty from St. Petersburg combined with the mechanical failure at Long Beach and now the recent incident at Laguna Seca has put the New Zealander in a hole he could not afford to find himself in through the first eight races. 

Josef Newgarden needs to start finishing races, especially road and street course races. Newgarden has allowed his season to hang on the results of the final six oval races. He spent all offseason speaking about focusing on racing, and if it wasn’t for a second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory this would be his worst season in a decade. This season has been a regression, arguably a second consecutive season regressing, concern should be growing. 

Felix Rosenqvist has exceeded expectations and has been the surprise of the season. Rosenqvist has turned Meyer Shank Racing into a contender. Work remains to be done. We see the best of Rosenqvist on Saturdays and he fades on Sundays. He is still picking up top ten results but if he can carry the speed over from qualifying to the race, he could be on the podium or even steal a victory. 

Christian Lundgaard is carrying Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for a second consecutive season, but Lundgaard is experiencing the limitations of RLLR more than last year. With six oval races remaining, this will be a challenge for the Dane, who is in a place of finding success where he is at but wanting more. Does Lundgaard believe RLLR can be a place where he can reach that next level and be the unquestioned number one driver or does he know he must leave to become a consistent race winner? He certainly has suitors. 

You cannot ignore five top ten finishes and 12th in the championship, which is what Santino Ferrucci has through eight races for A.J. Foyt Racing. This season has gone much better than respected though Ferrucci isn’t really doing it with impressive drives. Most of his results have been earn strategically. Take them however you can get them, but Ferrucci has received more attention for his antics in practice than anything done in races. You can only goof around for so long. 

There have been growing pains switching to Andretti Global for Marcus Ericsson. There have been good days but Ericsson fit in comfortably in Chip Ganassi Racing’s #8 entry. That team was all in it together. It takes time to develop that, and we are seeing it at Andretti. It hasn’t been a bad season, but there have likely been more frustrating days than expected. An accident in Indianapolis 500 practice did not help either. 

Every other week I think there is no way Romain Grosjean will be back in IndyCar next year. Grosjean went from Dale Coyne Racing to Andretti Autosport and being a big enough name to convince DHL to stick around when it was ready to leave and after two disappointing seasons he drives mostly sponsor-less cars at Juncos Hollinger Racing. I don’t think any bigger IndyCar teams will be calling Grosjean in the future. Grosjean has the Lamborghini GTP contract. He could be full-time in IMSA or WEC, run a dozen sports car races a year, live in Switzerland full-time and be happy. 

Marcus Armstrong has experienced a bit of a sophomore slump. When you complete all but four laps in your 12 starts as a rookie, a few bad days are bound to come up. Armstrong hasn’t been pushing Álex Palou or Scott Dixon, but he had strong days and shown development from his rookie year. The second half will be eye-opening as there are six oval races left and his Indianapolis 500 debut, his first oval race, ended after six laps due to an engine failure. Of those six laps, only about one turn was done at full speed. 

The results are not where Graham Rahal would have hoped they would be especially after the positive steps Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing made at the end of 2023. The team hasn’t taken a step back but it definitely hasn’t made a step forward either. Plenty of changes have been made though, which makes status quo harder to accept. 

I do not know who wants Rinus VeeKay, who is in a contract year. Three years ago, it felt like the day would come where VeeKay would be ready to leave Ed Carpenter Racing for a bigger and better team. With how competitive IndyCar has become and how many drivers are now interested in the series, I don’t think teams are tripping over themselves for a piece of Rinus VeeKay. His best option might be staying at ECR, which is a terrible option. 

For all the waves Linus Lundqvist has made he will need more than one podium finish to stick at Chip Ganassi Racing. If the results do not turn around, this will look like a rushed hire based on three races where Lundqvist had nothing to lose as a substitute for an injured Simon Pagenaud. The #8 Ganassi entry has sponsorship. For all the drivers representing the American Legion, there are at least a half-dozen on the sidelines who could get better results for that car than Lundqvist at the moment. 

Pietro Fittipaldi was a hot name six years ago and he had respectable runs in IndyCar, most of which came when still recovering from injury. Choosing to be sidelined for most of the last four years and only running eight to ten sports car races a year while spending the rest of the time standing at the back of the Haas F1 garage doesn’t seem like the best long-term career decision in hindsight. The third Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry has been struggling for three seasons, but Graham Rahal isn’t succeeding at a high level either and Fittipaldi isn’t even pushing for second-best in the team. 

Kyffin Simpson is having the rookie season any underwhelming, mid-pack Indy Lights driver wish he had. Simpson has been better than expected and he has been smart. Let’s not confuse that for Juan Pablo Montoya 1999 or even Colton Herta 2019. Simpson hasn’t been a menace but he has still been rushed into IndyCar and is getting a boost because the fifth Chip Ganassi Racing entry is still good enough to finish 15th with the most average driver in it. 

The story of Agustín Canapino’s season is the off-track, social media debacle involving Théo Pourchaire and the tone-deaf response to a fellow competitor receiving death threats. As much as Canapino has been celebrated for his move to IndyCar and open-wheel racing after a career in touring cars in Argentina, his best career finish is 12th in 24 starts. This is new to Canapino but at some point a best finish of 12th and a career average finish of 19.125 must be acknowledged.

Joining Ed Carpenter Racing might have been Christian Rasmussen’s only good option, and he did well in the Indianapolis 500, but Rasmussen has looked like a rookie in all the bad ways in every other race this season. Due to Ed Carpenter’s insisting he still run all the oval races, Rasmussen will run only three of the final nine races, and his season ends on August 25 at Portland. That’s a great plan for development. 

In 25 career starts, Sting Ray Robb has never started in the top ten. His average starting position this season is 24.75. The average grid size this season is 27.875. Robb’s career is going as good as any competent person could have expected. He is basically keeping A.J. Foyt Racing as a two-car team. That is Robb’s greatest contribution to IndyCar at the moment. 

Théo Pourchaire has likely been the best rookie this season but he will likely not complete his season after Arrow McLaren signed Nolan Siegel to complete the 2024 season. Pourchaire is at a crossroads at 20 years old. Three years ago, it felt like he was destined to be on the Formula One grid in no time. Despite finishing second and first in the Formula Two championship, Pourchaire has been shuffled out of the mix and being a Sauber development driver isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, especially with Audi taking over the team and looking for experience when it enters in 2026. Does any IndyCar team realize Pourchaire is worth the time or will the Frenchman’s career become scattered unsure if he is wanted though talent is clearly there?

Dale Coyne Racing didn’t have many other options and neither did Jack Harvey in January 2024. It was a late partnership for practically the entire season but for a team with limited resources and constantly cycling through engineers combined with a driver who has lost his luster, it was always going to be trying. Trying they have and there have been some moral victories, but you need more substance than that. 

It is hard to say this wasn’t the worst possible outcome for Tom Blomqvist, but Blomqvist was getting more comfortable in each race weekend, however, Meyer Shank Racing could not afford to have one car challenging for the top ten in the championship while its other driver was scrapping for a Leader Circle spot and finishing in the top 22, hence the early season change. 

An unceremonious dismal from Juncos Hollinger Racing turned Callum Ilott into a prized commodity and may have given him new life in sports cars. When Ilott stepped in at Arrow McLaren to deputize for David Malukas it felt like his future was with McLaren, but Ilott has excelled in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Hertz Team Jota and I don’t think he will be leaving sports car racing anytime soon. 

Nolan Siegel went from a driver to keep an eye on for 2025 to a driver who will get to dabble in IndyCar in 2024 to full-time McLaren driver in six months. This is rushed. He is 19 years old and still has much maturation to do. Siegel’s 2023 season unraveled. His 2024 season was going well, but he wasn’t the dominant driver in the series. There are reasons to hope. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Siegel got the better of Ritomo Miyata on a stint, and Miyata is a celebrated Formula Two driver who won both the Super Formula and Super GT championships in Japan last year. Siegel could be alright, but he needs time and Arrow McLaren famously does not give its drivers that long of a leash. 

Luca Ghiotto has made four IndyCar starts, all for Dale Coyne Racing with no prior testing experience. I don’t know what he is getting out of this or what he hoped for. I am glad Ghiotto got a shot at IndyCar and I hope it leads to something. These results don’t really tell us anything about him as a driver because Dale Coyne Racing cannot produce a car that can crack the top fifteen at the moment let alone one that is competitive for more than that. 

Due to the firing of Blomqvist, we got to see Hélio Castroneves run two more races than expected in 2024 and it was wonderful getting to see him finish 25th and 19th along with him make another start in the Indianapolis 500. 

There is plenty of time for drivers to turn narratives around, but at least half the story is already written, and they must live with what has been put to paper. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix, his seventh victory of the season.

Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Loudon, as well as the Grand National Series race.

The #7 Porsche of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr won the 6 Hours at the Glen. The #88 AF Corse Oreca-Gibson of Nicklas Nielsen, Luis Pérez Companc and Lilou Wadoux won in LMP2. The #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas won in GTD Pro. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje won in GTD.

Louis Foster swept the Indy Lights races from Laguna Seca.

Victor Martins (sprint) and Jak Crawford (feature) split the Formula Two races from Barcelona. Mari Boya (sprint) and Arvid Lindblad (feature) split the Formula Three races.

Tomoki Nojiri won a rain-shortened Super Formula race from Sportsland SUGO.

Romain Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for the fifth time. 

Coming Up This Weekend

The 24 Hours of Spa closes out the month.

Formula E has its penultimate race weekend in Portland.

MotoGP will be at Assen.

Formula One heads east to Austria.

NASCAR will be in the Nashville-area.

The World Rally Championship will be in Poland.

First Impressions: Laguna Seca 2024

1. It was not quite like last year’s Laguna Seca race, but cautions played a critical role. It ultimately came down to when teams decided to make their pit stops, and for Álex Palou, he did not stop under a caution in the middle of a stint for a Luca Ghiotto accident. 

Staying out allowed Palou to run flat out while those that stopped around 60 laps to go had to conserve fuel. Palou had to do some work and manage late restarts that leveled the competition, but the decision to remain on track gave Palou control of the race. That is all he needs to get victory. 

Palou was pushing Kyle Kirkwood after Palou lost the lead on the initial start of the race. It felt destined for Palou to leap forward, but stopping early was more advantageous, and Palou actually lost spots, but all those cars that stopped before Palou in that first round of green flag pit stops came under the first caution for Ghiotto.

It was mid-stint and it never made much sense to go on the defensive. This was a gift for Palou and now he has a 23-point championship lead over Will Power in second. Palou is 32 points ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon. 

This wasn’t a case of Palou entered this weekend up ten or 15 points and took advantage. Palou was trailing in the championship, five points behind Power, entering this race. This was a big swing in the championship and one the field likely wish didn’t happen. Palou doesn’t need much to run away from the competition. He has been given a golden opportunity. 

2. The late cautions brought Colton Herta into the conversation for race victory, but he could not give Palou much of a serious threat. Herta spent basically the entire race in the top five. He stopped early, and this race was reminiscent to Long Beach. Scott Dixon won that race saying fuel but everyone behind him was driving flat out. The fuel-save strategy worked for Dixon but no one else.

This was the reverse. Palou won going all out, but the cars that had to save did have good days. Herta still finished second stretching fuel. If Herta had stayed out, it would have been better for his shot at victory. Also, the cautions did make this closer than it was. Without the late cautions, Herta might be second but eight or ten seconds behind Palou. I am surprised Andretti Global didn’t split the strategies considering Herta and Kyle Kirkwood were both at the front at that time. 

3. After the first round of pit stops, this was looking like it was Alexander Rossi’s race. Rossi stopped first among the leaders and went from about fourth to first. It looked like Rossi’s team had played the right strategy for once… and then it stopped under the first caution and sacrificed control of the race. Rossi should have finished on the podium today, but if he doesn’t pit under that Ghiotto caution, I think he wins  the race. 

4. Romain Grosjean didn’t stop under the Ghiotto caution and that lifted Grosjean to a fourth-place finish. This was already a good weekend for Grosjean, but the decision mostly lifted Grosjean into the top five when he was right outside of it. He didn’t put a wheel wrong while others did. It was a good result for him and the Juncos Hollinger Racing team. It is actually JHR’s best finish in IndyCar. 

5. I don’t think Kyle Kirkwood was going to win this race even after leading all those laps at the start. With how close Palou was, this felt like a race we have seen Scott Dixon win five or six times. Stay close during the first stint, over-cut the leader by one lap, take the lead and runaway. Of course, Kirkwood did get out ahead of Palou after the first round of pit stops, but ground was lost to Rossi. Then Kirkwood lost spots on the pit stops under the Ghiotto caution. It was still a strong drive from Kirkwood, a top five is suitable.   

6. A quiet day for Scott Dixon got him sixth. Unsurprisingly, Dixon took the fuel-save strategy. He was fourth among those drivers, but he was starting behind the three drivers ahead of him. He didn’t lose ground today. Dixon made fuel and went forward. 

7. Will Power didn’t quite have a great day, but still finished seventh. With the ways the cautions fell, it benefited Power, but he was never a factor in this race and the result is rather flattering.  This was not a great weekend for Team Penske across the board. 

8. It is hard to find any faults in an eighth-place finish but Patricio O’Ward was on the same strategy as Palou, restarted third but he had to stop eight laps before Palou and that cost O’Ward positions. O’Ward had stopped about six laps earlier than the leaders on the opening stint. He was always going  to stop before Palou and he was going to have to run a little less aggressive, but it is tough to celebrate this result.

9. Santino Ferrucci used strategy again to finish in the top ten. Credit to him and A.J. Foyt Racing because it is working but he isn’t finishing ninth if he stops under the Ghiotto caution. Even with the strategy plays, Ferrucci is still picking up ninth-place results and not podium finishes or top five finishes. It is great for A.J. Foyt Racing, but we have seen this season Ferrucci make it a habit of doing stupid stuff in practice. There are plenty of drivers who could pull off this result and not bring the drama.

10. Marcus Ericsson stuck into the top ten. He wasn’t going to finish in the top ten and then he did. We will cover why in a moment. As for Ericsson, the growing pains have been a little greater than expected at Andretti Global. Not the end of the world but I don’t think we expected this many scraps to get tenth. 

11. This is coming out late because Pacific Time Zone. We will be quick here. This was another race where Felix Rosenqvist started at the front, had potential, but ended up finishing significantly behind from where he started. Don’t get me wrong, 11th is good for Meyer Shank Racing considering where it was last year, but this group cannot be losing four to eight spots every race from where it started. It doesn’t sting as much when you start in the top ten but it is still wasteful. 

Cried to David Malukas for completing all the laps and finishing 16th. Malukas should be improving over each weekend. 

12. I don’t know how Nolan Siegel ended up 12th considering he also had a spin mid-race. Chalk it up to the cautions I guess. 

13. Christian Rasmussen did make up a fair amount of spots today. It only got him 13th but that is all Ed Carpenter Racing can ask for at the moment. Rinus VeeKay had a spin on his own and then had to retire due to mechanical problems, taking 26th. One step forward, two steps back for ECR today. 

14. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had the race from hell. Pietro Fittipaldi did nothing brilliant to finish 14th. Christian Lundgaard was knocked off the road multiple times, it tarnished what was a promising starting position, and Lundgaard had his own penalty after he pushed Marcus Armstrong off track, leaving the Dane to finish 15th. Graham Rahal never had it this weekend and was collected when Kyffin Simpson spun in front of him. The next race is the home race at Mid-Ohio. It can only go up from here… right?

15. Chip Ganassi Racing’s youths did not have great days. Linus Lundqvist wasn’t competitive to begin with and hitting a pit crew member doesn’t help. Marcus Armstrong was spun and then Kyffin Simpson spun himself. These three are lucky Palou won. 

16. Agustín Canapino returned to anonymity in 18th. That is all. Sting Ray Robb was 20th though he did have a spin. 

17. Team Penske had a terrible weekend. Josef Newgarden nearly caught a break when the caution came out for Armstrong. Newgarden was on pit lane when it happened and came out in second. However, he lost about three spots when he ran slightly wide not long after the following restart. On the penultimate lap, Newgarden spun out from fifth. Newgarden shouldn’t have been fifth, but he shouldn’t have been 19th either. For a guy who spent a lot of time speaking about focus, this was an incident that showed a lack of focus, and a championship position of eighth with five results worse than 15th in the first eight races causes some questions to be raised

Scott McLaughlin had a top ten day going and then an ambitious move on Will Power caused contact and actually damaged McLaughlin’s car to the point it took him out of the race. This has been a messy season for Team Penske. It felt like it was back on track a month ago after Indianapolis. Apparently, that isn’t the case.

18. Along with Luca Ghiotto’s accident, Jack Harvey lost an engine. Dale Coyne Racing was 25th and 27th today. It is a bad team and the drivers are doing all they can to get something respectable. 

19. Summer is here and in a fortnight Mid-Ohio will take a place in IndyCar history as it will be the debut round for the hybrid system.

Morning Warm-Up: Laguna Seca 2024

Álex Palou scored his second pole position of 2024 with a lap of 67.1465 seconds around Laguna Seca on Saturday afternoon ahead of today’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. It is the fifth pole position of Palou’s career. Palou has won from pole position on three of his first four occasions leading the grid to the green flag, including in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis back in May. Every time he has started on pole position at a road or street course, Palou has won the race. The exception was the 2023 Indianapolis 500, where the Catalan driver finished fourth. Palou has finished on the podium in all three of his Laguna Seca starts. He won the 2022 race from 11th position while leading 63 of 95 laps. It was a a rather tight qualifying session with less than a quarter of a second covering the top five times.

Kyle Kirkwood missed out on pole position by 0.0739 seconds. This is Kirkwood’s best starting position of the season, and his best since he won pole position at Long Beach in 2023, 21 races ago. Kirkwood is attempting to become the first Andretti Global driver with three consecutive top five finishes since Colton Herta ended the 2021 season with a pair of victories and opened the 2022 season with a fourth at St. Petersburg.

Felix Rosenqvist was 0.1452 seconds off Palou in third. This is the fourth time this season Rosenqvist has started in the top five. He has finished better than his starting position in only three races this season. He went from fifth to fourth at Barber Motorsports Park in April, and he started 22nd in the last two races before finishing eight and 14th at Detroit and Road America respectively. Rosenqvist has two top five finishes at Laguna Seca as well has two finishes of 19th. 

Colton Herta fell 0.1507 seconds short of pole position and will start fourth. Herta could become the second driver with at least three Laguna Seca victories. Bobby Rahal has four victories at the circuit, though all of those were on the original 1.9-mile configuration. Herta has finished in the top five of the eighth race of the season for four consecutive years, but none of those results have been podium finishes.

Alexander Rossi is the top Chevrolet starter in fifth. Rossi was 0.2129 seconds slower than Palou. This is only Rossi’s second top five starting position this season. In 15 starts in his native California, Rossi has two victories, three top five finishes and ten top ten finishes, but his average finish is 11.2. He has finished 19th or worse in the other five races.

Christian Lundgaard was a distant sixth in the final round of qualifying, 0.3647 seconds from Palou. Lundgaard has finished outside the top ten in his last three starts, his longest drought since the first five starts of his IndyCar career. This is his first time starting in the top ten since he started on the front row for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis four races ago. The Dane has finished fifth and sixth in his first two Laguna Seca visits.

Scott McLaughlin fell 0.0269 seconds short of advancing from the second round of qualifying, and the New Zealander will take seventh on the grid. McLaughlin has led the most laps in three of the last five races, but he has only won one of them. Entering this season, he had led the most laps in a race on five occasions. 

Romain Grosjean has his best starting position since the St. Petersburg season opener in eighth. Grosjean was 0.0561 seconds from advancing to the final round. Grosjean has had consecutive top ten finishes only four times in his IndyCar career. The most recent was last season when he was runner-up in consecutive races between Long Beach and Barber Motorsports Park.

Patricio O'Ward takes ninth on the grid. In eight starts in the state of California, O'Ward has never finished on the podium and he has an average finish of 12.375 in the Golden State. After three consecutive results outside the top ten, O’Ward enters Laguna Seca on a streak of three consecutive top ten finishes. He has only led nine laps this season, all in the Indianapolis 500. He led 15 laps in this race last year before finishing ninth after starting ninth.  

Scott Dixon rounds out the top ten on the grid. This is a position better than where Dixon started on his way to victory last year at Laguna Seca. On seven occasions has Dixon won consecutive races at a circuit. He has never won from tenth starting position in his career. His 58 victories have come from 17 different starting positions in his career. 

Marcus Armstrong is a position behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and fellow New Zealander Dixon in 11th. A Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won the last two years at Laguna Seca from 11th starting position. Armstrong has made it out of the first round of qualifying at six races this season. He has finished better than his starting position in only two races this season. Armstrong has failed to finish three of seven races this year.

David Malukas starts 12th for his return to IndyCar. Malukas last competed in an IndyCar race 287 days ago in the 2023 season finale from Laguna Seca. He missed the opening six races due to a wrist injury. Malukas was contracted with Arrow McLaren but released from the team after missing the Barber Motorsports Park round at the end of April. Malukas has finished 13th and 20th in his first two Laguna Seca starts.

Speaking of returns, Agustín Canapino is back after sitting out of the Road America, and Canapino will start 13th, the best starting position of his IndyCar career. The Argentine was 0.0721 seconds from the second round of qualifying. Canapino was 14th in last year's Laguna Seca race. It is his only top fifteen finish on a permanent road course in IndyCar competition.

Josef Newgarden missed out on advancing from group two by 0.1159 seconds, and Newgarden will start 14th. This is the first time Newgarden is starting outside the top ten this season. Newgarden won the first race of summer in 2018 at Road America, however, in the first race of summer he has an average finish of 11.333 with six results outside the top ten.

Will Power makes it two Team Penske drivers starting outside the top ten for the first time this season as Power will roll from 15th. Power is the most recent IndyCar winner. He has not won consecutive races since he won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500 in 2018. A podium finish at Laguna Seca would be Power's fifth in eight races. It would be the third time Power has had five podium finishes in the first eight races along with 2011 and 2014.

A race after starting on his first career pole position, Linus Lundqvist will start 16th, which is still his second-best starting position of the season. This is the seventh time in eight races Lundqvist has started outside the top fifteen in 2024. He has finished outside the top ten in six of seven races this season, and in nine of ten career starts.

Santino Ferrucci takes 17th on the grid. Ferrucci has finished better than his starting position in five of seven races this season. Only once this season has he finished more than five spots better than his starting position. Ferrucci went from 17th to seven at Barber in April. 

Marcus Ericsson is a position behind Ferrucci in the championship and a position behind him on the grid. Ericsson has started outside the top fifteen in four of eight races. He has finished in the top ten of the eighth race of the season in all five seasons he has been in IndyCar. That includes two podium finishes and three top five finishes.

Graham Rahal will start 19th, the sixth time he has started outside the top ten this season and the fifth time he has started outside the top fifteen. With his top ten result at Road America, Rahal has 142 top ten finishes in 282 career starts, 50.354% of his finishes have been top ten results.

Rinus VeeKay has the #21 Chevrolet starting 20th. It is also the fifth time VeeKay has started outside the top fifteen this season. It has been 30 races since his most recent top five result. During that span, VeeKay has five top ten finishes. The Dutchman has finished 18th, 14th and 18th in three Laguna Seca starts.

Christian Rasmussen is starting a position worse than his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate in 21st. This is the third time Rasmussen will be starting 21st this season. Rasmussen was second and first in each of the Indy Lights doubleheaders held at Laguna Seca the last two years.

Kyffin Simpson qualified 22nd, the sixth time Simpson will be starting outside the top twenty this season. Simpson has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive races after opening the season with four consecutive finishes inside the top twenty, three of which were top fifteen results.

Nolan Siegel makes his first start with Arrow McLaren from 23rd starting position. This is the second-worst starting spot for a McLaren driver this season. Théo Pourchaire started 24th at Barber. This is Siegel’s third team in his first three starts. He drove for Dale Coyne Racing at Long Beach and Juncos Hollinger Racing at Road America.

Pietro Fittipaldi will be on the outside of row 12. Fittipaldi has qualified outside the top twenty in five races this season. He has finished better than his starting position in only three of the first seven races. He has also been the worst Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing finisher in five of the first seven races. The only time he was the best RLLR finisher was when he was 13th at St. Petersburg. 

For the 25th consecutive time, Sting Ray Robb will start outside the top twenty, and Robb will fittingly start 25th. Robb scored his best finish of his IndyCar career at Laguna Seca last year with a 12th from 24th on the grid.

Jack Harvey ended up 26th in qualifying. This is the third time Harvey will be outside the top 25 this season. He has never finished in the top fifteen when starting outside the top 25. This is the ninth time the Briton is starting worse than 25th in his career. Harvey's best finish in three Laguna Seca starts is 15th. 

Luca Ghiotto rounds out the grid, as the two Dale Coyne Racing drivers take the final two spots on the grid. Ghiotto could become the third Italian driver to win race at Laguna Seca. Alex Zanardi and Max Papis won at this circuit in 1996 and 2001 respectively.

USA's coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey begins at 6:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 95 laps.

Track Walk: Laguna Seca 2024

The eighth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season is an earlier trip to Laguna Seca than the series is accustomed to. After IndyCar's last four trips were in September, three of which were the season finale, Laguna Seca moves to the first race of summer, a different but not an unusual date for a trip to Monterey. CART ran twice at Laguna Seca in June in 2002 and 2003. Since reunification, the winner of the first race of summer has only won the championship in five of 16 seasons. However, the first winner of summer has won the championship in three of the last four seasons. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23 with green flag scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET.
Channel: USA
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Dillon Welch and Georgia Henneberry will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 5:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:00 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 5:15 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 3:00 p.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 6:15 p.m. ET (95 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Can Andretti Global Have a Breakout Weekend?

Andretti Global has been knocking on the door of victory in recent races. It just hasn't been able to breakthrough. 

The team led a combined 57 of 100 laps at Detroit, but the best it could do was second and fourth. At Road America, Andretti Global drivers started in two of the top four positions. The Andretti drivers ended up finishing fifth, sixth and ninth. It has been 11 races since Andretti Global's most recent victory, not the worst streak in the world, but getting long enough to be unsatisfied, especially based on recent results. 

Andretti could not be heading to a better track. 

Andretti and Andretti-adjacent teams have won two of the four Laguna Seca races since IndyCar's return. This place was Colton Herta's playground for two years. Herta won in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing and then won in 2021 with Andretti Global. Out of 185 laps run, Herta led 174 laps in those two races. He won both races from pole position.

The last two Laguna Seca visits have not been as kind to Herta. He was 11th at in 2022 and he was caught in an accident in last year's race.

Though Herta has started on the front row in the last two races in 2024, and he opened the season with a pair of podium finishes, Kyle Kirkwood is the top Andretti Global driver in the championship through seven races. Kirkwood has 179 points, three more than Herta, and Kirkwood is tied with Scott McLaughlin for fifth in the championship with McLaughlin owning the tiebreaker. 

Kirkwood has finished in the top five in the last two races. He had two top five finishes over the entire 2023 season, his two victories at Long Beach and Nashville. Kirkwood has not finished worse than 11th this season. His average finish is 7.7142 through seven races. Last year, his average finish over the entire season was 13.059. 

In four Road to Indy starts, Kirkwood won three times at Laguna Seca. However, he has finished 21st and 25th in his first two IndyCar starts at the track. He has started outside the top fifteen on each occasion as well. 

It has been a tough season for Marcus Ericsson, but the last two races have been steps in the right direction. After having three consecutive results of 18th or worse and having four results of 18th or worse through the first five races, Ericsson has been second and ninth in the last two races. He is 13th in the championship. 

Ericsson has been good at Laguna Seca, but not great. Through four starts, he has two top ten finishes and an average finish of 10.25. He has finished better than or equal to his starting position all four years at Laguna Seca. 

Road America was the second time this season Andretti Global had all three cars finish in the top ten. Last season, Andretti had three cars finish in the top ten of only one race. Andretti has had multiple top five finishers in two races this season. Last year, the team had only one race with multiple top five finishers, and it was the same race as its only race with three cars finishing in the top ten as Andretti cars went 1-2-4 at Long Beach in 2023.

Andretti Global has had a top five finisher in the last two races. The team has not gone three consecutive races with a top five finisher since a four-race run that covered the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Road America in 2022.

Can Chevrolet Win?

Though Laguna Seca has been on the schedule for four of the last five seasons, Chevrolet has yet to win at the circuit since its return. Honda is four-for-four at the Northern California circuit. Along with the two victories for Colton Herta, Álex Palou won in 2022 and Scott Dixon won in 2023, both victories for Chip Ganassi Racing. 

These haven't just race victories for Honda, these have been dominant performances for the manufacturer. Honda has led 319 of 375 laps run over the last four Laguna Seca races. It has taken at least two of the three podium positions in three of the four races. 

This is the only circuit that has been on the schedule since 2019 where Chevrolet has not won at. Chevrolet will be coming in with Team Penske having won three of the last five races, and Will Power as the championship leader after his victory at Road America. Power has finished on the podium four times this season. While he was 26th in 2021 Laguna Seca race, Power has finished second, third and fourth in the other three races. 

Last year was Josef Newgarden's first bad day at Laguna Seca. Contact left him in 21st, four laps down. Prior to that, Newgarden had finished in the top ten in his first three Laguna Seca starts, including a second from 25th on the grid in 2022. 

Scott McLaughlin was third at Road America two weeks ago. McLaughlin has finished in the top six in all three permanent road course races this season and he has eight consecutive top ten finishes on permanent road course dating back to last season. He was 12th in his first Laguna Seca race but he has been sixth and second the last two years here.

Patricio O'Ward is the second-best Chevrolet driver in the championship on 184 points in fourth. While O'Ward has finished in the top ten in the last three races, he has not finished on the podium on a permanent road course since the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race last August. His only victory on a permanent road course was at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. He has finished in the top ten in all three of his Laguna Seca visits. 

This is a home race for Alexander Rossi, and a waste gate failure led to an 18th place finish at Road America for Rossi two weeks ago. Rossi has three top ten finishes in four Laguna Seca starts, but he has never finished in the top five. It has been 19 races since Rossi has stood on the podium and 28 races since his most recent victory. This year's Laguna Seca race falls on the five-year anniversary of Rossi's dominant Road America victory where he led 54 of 55 laps and he won by 28.4391 seconds over Will Power. 

That Road America race in 2019 was Rossi's 60th career start and his seventh career victory. It was also his 17th career podium finishes. He has made 78 starts since and he has only one victory and 12 podium finishes. 

Last year, Ryan Hunter-Reay was tenth in the #20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. It was ECR's first top ten finish at Laguna Seca in four races with two entries in each. The team's average finish at this track is 19.375. Last year was the first time the team had both cars finish in the top twenty. Rinus VeeKay was 18th. 

A.J. Foyt Racing has only one top fifteen finisher over the last four Laguna Seca races. Sébastien Bourdais was eighth in 2021. Its other eight entrants over the last four Laguna Seca races have all failed to finish better than 16th. Coincidentally, in three of the four Laguna Seca races, Foyt cars have finished next to one another. In 2019, Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist were 16th and 17th respectively. In 2021, Charlie Kimball was 18th, directly ahead of Dalton Kellett. Last year, Benjamin Pedersen finished 16th with Santino Ferrucci behind him in 17th. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing had its best year at Laguna Seca last year. Callum Ilott was fifth, matching the team's best finish ever while Agustín Canapino was 14th. In the previous two Laguna Seca races, JHR had not cracked the top twenty. Ilott is gone, but Romain Grosjean has finished in the top ten in two of his three Laguna Seca starts.

Entering Laguna Seca, Chevrolet and Honda have been trading victories. Chevrolet has won the four odd-numbered races this season while Honda has won the three even-numbered races. If the pattern holds, Honda would be the winner at Laguna Seca. Dating back to last season, there have been eight consecutive races without a manufacturer repeating as the race winner. This is the longest streak since the return of engine competition in 2012.

Welcome Back From Le Mans

It might have been an off-week for IndyCar last week, but for five drivers, they were competing across the Atlantic in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scott Dixon, Álex Palou, Romain Grosjean, Kyffin Simpson and, a late addition to the Laguna Seca entry list, Nolan Siegel all competed at Le Mans. 

Dixon, Palou and Grosjean all ran in the Hypercar class. Siegel and Simpson competed in the LMP2 class. All five drivers will be back to their day jobs this weekend at Laguna Seca. For Siegel, he returns with a promotion. 

Siegel was announced as the driver of the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on Tuesday afternoon, replacing Théo Pourchaire. Siegel will forgo the remainder of the Indy Lights season to compete in IndyCar. Prior to this announcement, Siegel became a class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last Sunday. Driving for United Autosports, Siegel won in the LMP2 class, finishing 15th overall, with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and fellow American Bijoy Garg. It was Siegel and Garg’s Le Mans debut. McLaren CEO Zak Brown owns United Autosports. 

Palou was the top IndyCar representative, finishing seventh overall and completing all 311 laps in the #2 Cadillac. Grosjean was 13th driving for the Lamborghini Iron Lynx, two laps down. Simpson was 11th in the LMP2 class, 25th overall driving for Nielsen Racing. Dixon's #3 Cadillac retired after completing 223 laps due to an oil leak.

This is the most drivers entered for the IndyCar race the week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans who competed at Le Mans since 1988 when seven drivers competed in France and then ran at Portland the following weekend. That year the seven drivers were Michael Andrettti, John Andretti, Didier Theys, Kevin Cogan, Derek Daly, Danny Sullivan and Raul Boesel. 

These five drivers competed in a grueling endurance race while 22 drivers were resting. Does that extra work hurt a driver returning to IndyCar competition? By competing at Le Mans, these five drivers have spent six consecutive weekends competing at a racetrack between the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Road America and Le Mans, with Laguna Seca being their seventh consecutive weekend of action. 

Since 1988, 32 drivers have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then competed in an IndyCar race the following weekend. The average finish for those 32 drivers is 13.25. In that time frame, three times has a driver competed at Le Mans and then won the IndyCar race the following week. 

Danny Sullivan did it in 1988, finishing 16th in his Le Mans debut before winning at Portland. Sébastien Bourdais did not finish the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Pescarolo Sport, but he did win at Portland, leading 85 of 94 laps from pole position a week later. Eight years ago, Dixon left Le Mans after finishing seventh in the GTE Pro class driving a Ford GT, 23rd overall. A week after that, Dixon won at Road America with 24 laps led from fifth on the grid.

Only seven of the 32 drivers since 1988 have finished in the top five and only 12 of the 32 finished in the top ten. Twelve of the 32 drivers have finished outside the top fifteen. 

Of those 32 competitors, 12 have occurred since 2016. The average finish for those dozen drivers improves to 11.583. A third of those competitors were top five finishers while another third finished outside the top fifteen. 

Dixon has run at Le Mans five times. In each of those cases he had an IndyCar race the following weekend. His average finish in those five starts is seventh with four top five finishes. The one exception was in 2016 when Dixon suffered an engine failure after six laps at Road America to finish 22nd. 

For Palou, Grosjean, Siegel and Simpson, this will be their first time competing in IndyCar a week after Le Mans. Along with Siegel, Palou and Simpson are coming off their Le Mans debuts. This was Grosjean's first Le Mans appearance since 2010.

Intra-Team Battles

Through seven rounds this season, we have a good idea about how these drivers are doing within their own organizations, giving the picture of who is the leader, who is looking to make up ground and which teams have it pretty even across the lineup. 

Will Power leads the championship, and he has been the best Team Penske driver in four of seven races. Josef Newgarden has been the top Penske finisher twice while Scott McLaughlin's only time being the best Penske finisher was his Barber Motorsports Park victory. McLaughlin has been at least the second-best Penske driver in four of the other six races.

In qualifying, it has been pretty even. Power has been the top Penske qualifier in three races while Newgarden and McLaughlin have each been the best starter in two races. At no point has the top Penske qualifier been the same over consecutive races. 

Álex Palou and Scott Dixon have each been the best Chip Ganassi Racing finisher in three races this season. The lone exception was Barber when Linus Lundqvist was the best Ganassi driver in third. Palou has been the first or second best Ganassi driver in six of seven races. Marcus Armstrong has been the second-best Ganassi finisher only once, his fifth at Detroit. Lundqvist was the second-best Ganassi driver at Road America, though he finished 12th. 

In qualifying, Palou has been the top Ganassi starter four times while Armstrong was the best twice and Lundqvist was best with his pole position at Road America. Dixon has been the second-best Ganassi starter in four races this season. 

Patricio O'Ward and Alexander Rossi have each been the best Arrow McLaren finisher in three races. Théo Pourchaire was the top McLaren driver at Barber, but that is when Pourchaire was 22nd in a race where none of the McLaren cars finished in the top twenty. The picture is the same in qualifying. O'Ward and Rossi have each been the top McLaren starter in three races while Pourchaire has been on top once. 

Colton Herta is not the best Andretti Global driver in the championship, but he has been the top Andretti finisher in four of seven races. The only problem is Herta was the best Andretti finisher in the first four races. Kyle Kirkwood was the best at the Indianapolis 500 and Road America while Marcus Ericsson was the best with his runner-up finish at Detroit.

Herta holds a 4-3 advantage in qualifying over Kirkwood while Ericsson has yet to be the best starter for Andretti this season.

Felix Rosenqvist has Meyer Shank Racing in the top ten of the championship and he has been the best MSR finisher in six of seven races. The only time he wasn't was the Indianapolis 500 when an engine failure took Rosenqvist out before halfway and allowed Hélio Castroneves to be the best finisher. Rosenqvist has been the top MSR starter in all seven races. He has started on average 10.142 positions better than the second MSR car this season.

Prior to Road America, Christian Lundgaard had been the best Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver in four consecutive races. Graham Rahal was the best RLLR driver for the second time this season at Elkhart Lake. Pietro Fittipaldi was the best RLLR at St. Petersburg. 

In qualifying, Lundgaard has been the top RLLR starter six times. The lone exception was the Indianapolis 500 when Takuma Sato qualified tenth and the three full-time RLLR drivers all started 28th or worse. Rahal has been the second-best starter in five of the other six races.

Santino Ferrucci holds a 5-2 advantage head-to-head against A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb. The two drivers split the first four races. Each time Ferrucci has failed to finish inside the top twenty, Robb has been the best finisher. In qualifying, Ferrucci is up 7-0 on Robb. 

Rinus VeeKay is leading the Ed Carpenter Racing battle, up 5-2 over Christian Rasmussen in race finishes. Like Ferrucci, each time VeeKay has finished outside the top twenty, Rasmussen has been the best finisher. Unlike Ferrucci, it is tight in qualifying. VeeKay holds the edge 4-3, but Rasmussen has been the top ECR starter in the last two races. 

At Juncos Hollinger Racing, Romain Grosjean has been the top finisher in five races. Make it a hat trick, as each time Grosjean has finished outside the top twenty, he has not been the best JHR finisher. Grosjean also holds a 5-2 edge in qualifying. Agustín Canapino will return to the #78 Chevrolet this weekend.

Dale Coyne Racing has had six different drivers in its two cars over the seven races this season. Jack Harvey has run six of seven races and been the best finisher in four of them. Nolan Siegel bested Harvey at Long Beach and Luca Ghiotto led DCR at Road America. Katherine Legge was the only DCR car in the Indianapolis 500, making her the best finisher by default.

In qualifying, Harvey has been the top DCR starter three times. Colin Braun, Luca Ghiotto, Katherine Legge and Tristan Vautier have each been the top DCR starter once. For Braun, Ghiotto and Vautier, they were each the best DCR starter but in all three cases neither DCR car started in the top twenty. 

Indy Lights

Only one Road to Indy series will make the trek west to Laguna Seca, but Indy Lights will run a doubleheader at the famed course this weekend. 

Jacob Abel has a 19-point lead in the championship after his fifth podium finish in six races two weeks ago at Road America. Abel has yet to finish worse than fifth this season and that has him on 256 points. Louis Foster is riding three consecutive podium finishes into California. Caio Collet is up to third in the championship on 179 points as he has been in the top five in three consecutive races and in four of the last five. 

Nolan Siegel has abandoned his Indy Lights efforts to pursue the McLaren IndyCar opportunity. Siegel was fourth in the championship on 177 points. Christian Brooks will move up from USF Pro 2000 to drive the #39 HMD Motorsports entry for the remainder of the season. Brooks is fourth in the USF Pro 2000 championship with three runner-up finishes, and he is 64 points behind championship leader Lochie Hughes.

In Indy Lights, Siegel is still 21 points ahead of Callum Hedge and Reece Gold, who are tied with Hedge holding the tiebreaker as Hedge's best finish is third to Gold's best finish being fourth. 

Myles Rowe dropped to seventh in the championship after his worst finish of the season at Road America, a 19th. Rowe is on 151 points, eight points ahead of Michael d'Orlando and ten points ahead of Road America winner Jamie Chadwick. Chadwick led every lap from pole position in her first career Indy Lights victory. 

Jonathan Browne rounds out the championship top ten on 127 points, five more than fellow Irishman James Roe, Jr.

Indy Lights will race at 3:25 p.m. ET on Saturday June 22nd and at 3:55 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23rd. Both race will be 35 laps in length. 

Fast Facts

This will be the ninth IndyCar race to take place on June 23 and the first since Alexander Rossi won at Road America in 2019.

Andretti Global has won the last three races held on June 23. Along with Rossi in 2019, Andretti won on June 23, 2012 at Iowa with Ryan Hunter-Reay, and on June 23, 2013 at Iowa with James Hinchcliffe. 

This year's race falls on the 28th anniversary of Alex Zanardi's first career victory at Portland. 

Five times has the Laguna Seca race winner also won the championship in the same season, most recently in 2002 with Cristiano da Matta. The other four were Bobby Rahal in 1986 and 1987, Danny Sullivan in 1988, and Michael Andretti in 1991. 

Team Penske leads all teams with six Laguna Seca victories. Five of those victories came over a seven-race period from 1988 through 1994. 

Bryan Herta, Cristiano da Matta and Scott Dixon are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in Indy Lights and IndyCar. Jimmy Vasser and Patrick Carpentier are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in the Atlantics Championship and IndyCar.

On six occasions has a driver won consecutive Laguna Seca races (Bobby Rahal 1984-87, Michael Andretti 1991-92, Paul Tracy 1993-94, Bryan Herta 1998-99, Patrick Carpentier 2003-04, and Colton Herta 2019, 2021).

The average starting position for a Laguna Seca winner is 3.1923 with a median of first. 

Even with the last two Laguna Seca winners starting 11th, the median finish is still first. 

Sixteen of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from pole position. 

The Laguna Seca pole-sitter has never gone three consecutive races without a victory.

Twenty-two of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from a top three starting position. 

The average number of lead changes in a Laguna Seca race is 3.346 with a median of three. 

Three of the four Laguna Seca races since 2019 have had at least six lead changes. Prior to this stretch, only three of the first 22 Laguna Seca races had at least six lead changes.

The average number of cautions in a Laguna Seca race is 1.961 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 8.153 with a median of 7.5.

Last year's Laguna Seca race had a record-tying eight cautions and a record-breaking 35 caution laps.

There have been six caution-free races at Laguna Seca, most recently in 1997.

Predictions

Andretti Global goes four-for-four and wins at Laguna Seca, but it is Kyle Kirkwood taking the victory, and Colton Herta will be the worst finishing Andretti driver. Chevrolet will put two drivers on the podium. The championship lead will change hands. There will be fewer than five cautions and none will occur for an incident in the final corner. Everyone will let Agustín Canapino be, at least on the track. At least two rookies finish in the top ten. Sleeper: Felix Rosenqvist.

Hey! We Have the 2025 IndyCar Schedule

Last week, IndyCar released its 2025 schedule along with the announcement of the new broadcast partnership with Fox. The next media rights deal we expected. The schedule we didn’t. That was something we likely thought we had a few months until we would see it. 

Instead, we got it as a surprise, preventing three months of speculating of what was to come in following year. Like a plane dumping an ungodly amount of water on a forest fire, any hope of returning oval races, filling gaps in the schedule and trips to new places were doused before the blaze could rage. That doesn’t mean people didn’t get upset. All they know is hope must turn to 2026. That isn’t helping.

However, the 2025 schedule is here, mostly looking the same as 2024. There is nothing new, per se. All the tracks are the same. A few have new dates. One weekend will have one fewer race. One weekend will now count toward the championship. 

There is much to breakdown about the calendar, though we still aren’t halfway through 2024. With the news still fresh, and some time to digest, let’s go over what we already know about 2025, where and when races take place, and what some of these decisions mean.

March 2 - St. Petersburg

The traditional season opener remains the season opener, though St. Petersburg will be a week earlier than previously announced. Not that anyone complain about the season starting a week earlier than intended. The offseason will still be 167 days long from Nashville 2024 to St. Petersburg 2025. 

March 23 - Thermal Club

No longer a non-championship race, the Thermal Club will be the second round of the championship, three weeks after St. Petersburg on the same weekend Thermal was in 2024. 

The answer to all of your questions is money. Thermal Club was willing to pay for a non-championship race. It is willing to pay for a championship race. There has been plenty of pushback on Thermal’s presence since it was first announced. It isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

There were plenty of questions about Thermal going into this year’s event. Live pit stops were not possible due to pit lane constraints. Some of the runoff area was question. There is really one, maybe two passing zones. Work will be done but skepticism remains. 

What we do know about Thermal is it was a high tire-wear circuit. With a full race and a full field, it could be a fascinating race to watch. There are reasons for optimism even if Thermal disgusts some viewers. 

April 13 - Long Beach

Long Beach remains in the middle of April. It will be the only race in April, three weeks after Thermal. Nothing much to say about this one. 

May 4 - Barber Motorsports Park

Barber moves into May, but this was likely out of necessity. Easter is April 20, and you can likely pencil in Talladega for April 27. Barber will kick off what will be five consecutive weeks of action as immediately after this will be the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the Indianapolis 500 and then Detroit.

Normally, the week prior to the Grand Prix of Indianapolis is a week off. Likely, the Indianapolis 500 open test will be in late April. Something will be going on, but it keeps a busy period busy. It only has an extra race in May. 

May 10 - Grand Prix of Indianapolis

This is still the Saturday 15 days prior to the Indianapolis 500. It is a tighter turnaround with Barber the week before. With how much time IndyCar spends on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, I almost expect this to be a condensed weekend. Practice mid-Friday afternoon, qualifying almost Friday evening with a warm-up Saturday morning ahead of the race that afternoon. 

May 25 - Indianapolis 500

Memorial Day weekend. Where else would IndyCar be?

June 1 - Detroit

Week after Indianapolis with Roger Penske running the series. Where else would IndyCar be?

June 15 - Gateway

The first truly significant change is Gateway moving up two months to the middle of June from the middle of August. It does spread out the oval races as six of the final eight races are on ovals. 

This was a bit shocking because IndyCar loves to shout date equity and Gateway had a consistent date. Moving Gateway to June allows some other scheduling decisions to take place. The NASCAR race from Gateway has been the first weekend in June the last three years. With NASCAR also having new television partners in 2025, some of those races could be moving around. IndyCar’s move could signal the NASCAR weekend at Gateway is moving as well, whether that is forward into spring or deeper into summer remains to be seen. 

There were plenty upset as Gateway will run on Le Mans weekend, but this is what IndyCar must do to fit in its schedule on Fox. As much as we love seeing IndyCar drivers attempt other disciplines, IndyCar is their first responsibility. We also don’t see many IndyCar drivers run Le Mans to begin with. The five drivers entered for Laguna Seca a week after Le Mans is the most since seven in 1988. It isn’t the case of a dozen drivers or 15 drivers going to Le Mans. It isn’t the 24 Hours of Daytona. We will live. 

June 22 - Road America

Summer starts at Road America, a back-to-back with Gateway. No concerns here. 

July 6 - Mid-Ohio

Mid-Ohio remains around Independence Day weekend. It has been working. Why change it?

July 12 & 13 - Iowa

Iowa retains its mid-July doubleheader. That’s fine. 

July 20 - Toronto

A third consecutive weekend will take IndyCar across the border to Toronto, which will be the final street course race of the season. 

July 27 - Laguna Seca

This is where the next significant change occurred. Laguna Seca moves back a month to July. Every weekend in July has a race weekend and there will be five races during the month as it will rush IndyCar into the final quarter of the season. 

Again, nothing says date equity like taking a struggling event and giving it a third different date in as many years in three different months. I guess Laguna Seca must go somewhere if it isn’t going to be the season finale, but it will be a cross-continental trip from Toronto. 

I think there should be great concern about Laguna Seca’s long-term health. It is the weakest race on the schedule. It practically had the season finale for four seasons and it never felt like an event. Moving it to the start of summer might not help in 2024. It is hard to see it drawing more people in this June/July timeframe. I am hopeful, but I am not expecting a significant change. 

We will know how 2024 looks in late-June in a few days. It should give us an idea of what is realistic for 2025. 

August 10 - Portland

It isn’t quite a western swing because there is a week off between Laguna Seca and Portland, but it is two consecutive western races. I am not sure how much it helps the teams, but it looks sensical on paper. 

August 24 - Milwaukee

Milwaukee will be back for a second consecutive season, but it will be a week earlier and it will only be a single race instead of a doubleheader. This allows the championship to remain at 17 races with the inclusion of Thermal as a championship round. It will make Milwaukee an easier weekend for the teams as there will only be one race instead of two with a potential tight turnaround from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon. 

I wonder how much losing a doubleheader hurts an event. When you can get two races for a respectable price it is a great deal for a spectator and makes a race weekend more enticing than others. It isn’t the worst change in the world but it something to keep an eye on.  

August 31 - Nashville Superspeedway

The season finale remains at the 1.333-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee but it moves up two weeks and will take place on Labor Day weekend. This allows the IndyCar season to end before the NFL season begins, something that takes up a great deal of real estate on Fox’s broadcast schedule on Sundays from September through January. 

I have said for some time if IndyCar was going to end the season on week two of the NFL season, it should work to squeeze all those races in and end on Labor Day weekend. This is about ratings, and taking one race, even if it is the season finale, out of NFL season where it is completely forgotten and in almost no way has a chance of garnering attention, it is the best decision. 

It must be kept in mind Labor Day weekend will likely be the hard end date for IndyCar as long as it is on Fox and commitment to putting every race on network television. With the amount of football Fox has, Sunday afternoon will be off the table come September. The same goes with college football on Saturdays. If IndyCar is flexible, the season could go into September if the finale and any additional races are on FS1, but it would be sacrificing viewership numbers in that case. This move to Fox signals IndyCar wants to maximize viewership as much as possible to increase exposure and value of the series.

If IndyCar is going to race into football season, it needs to be more than one race. If there were four or five races spread over September and October, IndyCar would still take a dip in viewership but it would have some substance to stick around and keep an audience. One race during football season, especially the IndyCar season finale, is an unnecessary ratings hit. Avoiding it is the smartest play. 

Final Takeaways

There are plenty of IndyCar schedule discussions we still must have but we will take those on at a later date. For 2025, IndyCar got a television partner that is giving it the world and it kept all the pieces in place. Race retention is a positive thing. No track is losing a date. No current local fan base is losing a race weekend and are left wondering if they can afford to take a trip to see IndyCar. Stasis is good. 

This schedule is no different than where IndyCar has been for the last decade. The season has basically been completed in six or six-and-a-half months since 2012. Even before then some of those later IRL seasons prior to reunification were completed early September. We have been here for a long time. I don’t think it is changing any time soon. It likely will never change. 

It is the same old tune. One schedule comes out and everyone believes the year after that will be the year of great change. IndyCar is always 18 months away from that big shakeup. It hasn’t ever really come. With a new television partner and more money pouring into IndyCar coffer’s on an annual basis, maybe 2026 will finally be the year. Don’t count on it. 

Musings From the Weekend: You Got the Money, Now It is Time For Results

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Ferrari successfully defended its Le Mans success with a second consecutive victory, this time with the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Niklas Nielsen. United Autosport came out on top in LMP2 with Oliver Jarvis, Nolan Siegel and Bijoy Garg. Manthey EMA Racing won in LMGT3 with Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin. NASCAR held its first Cup race in Iowa. There was World Superbike action. Some Australians returned to their day jobs. IndyCar announced its new television partner and then some, and that news captured much of my attention.

You Got the Money, Now It is Time For Results

I have a rule that I will not talk about the next year's calendar until we get to July. We must get through half of a year before we can start looking to next year. It is healthier. However, IndyCar announced its 2025 calendar on Thursday morning along with the news IndyCar would have Fox as its broadcast partner for the 2025 season. IndyCar and NBC had an exclusive partnership dating back to 2018, and IndyCar had a relationship with Comcast dating back to 2009 when the series moved to Versus for a majority of its races.

This is a significant change for IndyCar. Fox has made the commitment to show every race on network television in 2025 as well as showing both Indianapolis 500 qualifying days in network windows. Practice and qualifying sessions will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 or Fox Sports 2, and Indy Lights will have majority of its races shown on Fox Sports 1.  

IndyCar was a big winner from this television bidding war. At the start of 2024, it was difficult to imagine IndyCar would have two major networks offering practically every race being broadcasted over network television. It would have been realistic to expect some sort of cable or streaming aspect of the broadcast package. That is how it has been for IndyCar's modern existence. 

Instead, every race will be on Fox, and the series will make $40 million per year in this broadcast partnership. 

It looks great on paper, and the series should be pleased, but now that it has its money, it is time to get results. 

Money is part of the problem. The other part is viewership. One can increase the other. We aren't sure if the reciprocate is true. 

For all the network television windows IndyCar will have and for all the extra money the series will make on this new contract, we need to see more. It is great that 17 races will be on Fox, but if the viewership remains stagnant, it will be difficult to call this a success. It will be even tougher to get an increase in rights fees next time around. 

IndyCar has one big race and the rest get around one million viewers when on network television. That has been the case for the better part of 20 years. Whether it was on ABC/ESPN or NBC, a million viewers was the benchmark. It never rose higher than that. IndyCar didn’t get a greater pay day because of growth, it got a greater pay day because a million viewers became more valuable in this media landscape. It is dangerous to gamble that will remain the case going forward. 

At some point, it is not the broadcast partner that is the problem. The series should already recognize the broadcaster can only take you so far. 

It is one thing to make the races available. In terms of exposure and general awareness of the series, that is more than just showing races in 2024. We just spoke last week about the importance of a docuseries that takes viewers behind the scenes, but which more importantly exposes new viewers to the series. Formula One exploded because of something other than the races. It will be great that every race will be on the same network in 2025, but history tells us it will take more than that to significantly increase viewership.

This is the same playbook IndyCar has been using for the last few years. It is just doing it with a brand new broadcast partner. Every race on network is fantastic, but two seasons ago 14 of 17 races were on NBC. Two races were on USA and Toronto was a Peacock exclusive race. Last year, 13 races were on NBC with an extra on USA. Average viewership was up 2% in 2023 compared to 2022 despite one fewer network race. 

Three or four non-network races aren't torpedoing IndyCar’s average viewership. Having the races on network would definitely help the average, but those races weren't what was holding IndyCar back. It needs greater cultural relevance and cachet with the average adult. If you want that, it requires much attention beyond the races themselves.

We have this new contract. We have every race on network television. What does success look like for this next contract? We all think it will be better now with every race on Fox, but what is the number we can say where it is clearly better? 

The Indianapolis 500 inflates the numbers. While the average IndyCar race had about 1.32 million viewers in 2023, remove the Indianapolis 500 from that total and the average drops to 1.094 million. That is where IndyCar beyond the month of May has been living for two decades or so. At some point that average must improve. What is success over the next three years? 

We can celebrate all the network races we want, but if the viewership remains flat, has IndyCar really won? 

Is it realistic to shoot for an average of 1.5 million viewers outside of the Indianapolis 500? It might sound like a lot but it is distance from where IndyCar is at in this moment. Increasing to 1.25 million in three years is something, but it is only an increase of use north of 150,000 viewers. That isn't a spectacular gain. 

That is what is important for this next contract. It must be more than what is gained on paper. There must be some kind of results from this deal that are notable. If in three years the average viewership outside the Indianapolis 500 is around 1.15 million viewers, there should be hesitation to celebrate. That is inches gained when IndyCar needs yards. 

IndyCar hates being compared to Formula One, but Formula One is now practically level on average viewership despite Formula One's average being around 671,000 viewers in 2019. IndyCar's average in 2019 was 1.108 million viewers, and that is including the Indianapolis 500 that year. 

In five years, Formula One has caught up. It didn't catch up because all the races were on network television. It didn't catch up because the championship went undecided into the finale every year. It didn't catch up because there are on average nine different drivers winning a race each season and hundreds of passes in each race. It didn't catch up because there is an American driver that is competitive and winning races. It caught up because it connected with people and give people a reason to care about those competing. It did that through an avenue that wasn't the race broadcasts.

IndyCar will have the races in a good spot. There should be no complaints about difficulty finding where the races are being broadcasted, but IndyCar needs substantial results over this contract. That will require more than just 17 race broadcasts in an accessible location.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Le Mans, but did you know...

Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup race from Iowa, his first victory of the season. Sam Meyer won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the World Superbike races from Misano. Adrián Huertas swept the World Supersport races.

Broc Feeney swept the Supercars races from Darwin.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar will be at Laguna Seca.

Formula One returns to Barcelona. 

NASCAR moves to Loudon.

One week after Le Mans, IMSA has a six-hour race at Watkins Glen. 

Super Formula will have an all-domestic affair at Sportsland SUGO.

2024 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGT3 Preview

For the first time, GT3 regulations are being used at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the inaugural year of the LMGT3 class sees 23 entries representing nine manufacturers. Eighteen of the cars are full-time FIA World Endurance Championship entries. Three European Le Mans Series teams, one IMSA entrant and an additional Le Mans-only participant round out the class.

Twenty-five of the 49 Le Mans debutants are in LMGT3. Fifteen of the 23 cars in LMGT3 have at least one driver making a Le Mans debut. Of the 69 drivers in this class, 52 drivers have made fewer than five Le Mans appearances.

#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo

Drivers: Ian James (4th), Daniel Mancinelli (2nd), Alex Riberas (2nd)

Test Day: 2nd

About This Team: Heart of Racing is back for a second consecutive year with this lineup. This trio was sixth in GTE-Am last year. After opening the WEC season with a second in Qatar, Heart of Racing is tied for second in the LMGT3 championship on 37 points, but loses the tiebreaker to the #31 Team WRT BMW.

#31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

Drivers: Augusto Farfus (6th), Sean Gelael (4th), Daniel Leung (1st)

Test Day: 3rd

About This Team: The #31 BMW won at Imola in April. Farfus has never finished in the top five of his class in his first five Le Mans appearances. Gelael makes his first Le Mans appearance outside of LMP2 this year. He was runner-up in the LMP2 class in 2021 with Jota. 

#44 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

Drivers: John Hartshorne (3rd), Christopher Mies (1st), Ben Tuck (1st)

Test Day: 13th

About This Team: This is the only one-off Le Mans entry in LMGT3. Mies makes his Le Mans debut at 35 years old. The German has won the 24 Hours Nürburgring twice and the Bathurst 12 Hour twice. Hartshorne and Tuck are co-drivers in the European Le Mans Series for JMW Motorsports. This is Hartshorne's first Le Mans appearance since 2011 when he drove a Lotus Evora GTE for Jetalliance Racing.

#46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

Drivers: Ahmad Al Harthy (2nd), Maxime Martin (9th), Valentino Rossi (1st)

Test Day: 9th

About This Team: The #46 BMW opened the season with finishes of fourth and second before being taken out at Spa-Francorchamps. Rossi has spent the last three years competing int GT World Challenge Europe. He and Martin won a Sprint Cup race at Misano last year on their way to fifth in the championship. Martin and Rossi also won another Sprint Cup race at Misano this year. Martin won the GTE Pro class in 2020 with Aston Martin. Al Harthy made his Le Mans debut last year in an Aston Martin and finished second in GTE Am.

#54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Francesco Castellacci (9th), Thomas Flohr (8th), Davide Rigon (10th)

Test Day: 15th

About This Team: Castellacci, Flohr and Rigon were third in the GTE Am championship last year and won at Fuji. It was Castellacci and Flohr's first WEC victory since Fuji 2017. They were fifth in GTE Am at Le Mans last year.Through three races, the #54 Ferrari has 23 points with its best finish being fifth at Qatar.

#55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: François Heriau (1st), Simon Mann (3rd), Alessio Rovera (4th)

Test Day: 14th

About This Team: Rovera won at Le Mans in GTE Am in 2021. Mann has had two different co-drivers in each of his three Le Mans appearances. Heriau was supposed to make his Le Mans debut in 2021 in the SRT41 Garage 56 entry but an injury kept him from participating. Mann and Heriau were co-drivers in the Asian Le Mans this past winter and were eighth in that championship with Rigon as their third driver. 

#59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Drivers: Nicolas Costa (1st), James Cottingham (1st), Grégoire Saucy (1st)

Test Day: 5th

About This Team: The #59 McLaren enters Le Mans coming off a fourth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps. Costa won the Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil championship last year. Cottingham was runner-up in the British GT Championship GT3 class last year. Saucy is a part of the ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am championship leading team.

#60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2

Drivers: Matteo Cressoni (7th), Franck Perera (1st), Claudio Schiavoni (6th)

Test Day: 5th

About This Team: After driving a Ferrari and a Porsche the previous two years at Le Mans, Cressoni is now in a Lamborghini. Perera won the GTD class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2018. Cressoni and Schiavoni were third in the ELMS GT championship last year. The #60 Lamborghini was third at Spa-Francorchamps.

#66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Giacomo Petrobelli (2nd), Larry ten Voorde (2nd), Salih Yoluç (6th)

Test Day: 18th

About This Team: Ten Voorde has opened the 2024 Porsche Supercup season with two victories. This is the Dutchman's first Le Mans appearance since 2020 when he was fourth in GTE Am. Yoluç won the GTE Am class that year, and the Turkish driver is focused on the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup this season while Petrobelli is running in British GT. Petrobelli and JMW retired after 89 laps last year due to an accident. 

#70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Drivers: Brendan Iribe (3rd), Ollie Millroy (3rd), Frederik Schandorff (1st)

Test Day: 12th

About This Team: Iribe and Millroy did not run Le Mans last year, but they ran the two years prior to that. Schandorff and Iribe are full-time in IMSA and they were sixth in the GTD championship last year.

#77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

Drivers: Ben Barker (9th), Ryan Hardwick (2nd), Zacharie Robichon (3rd)

Test Day: 21st

About This Team: The #77 Ford has been ninth in the last two WEC races. Barker scored his first class podium at Le Mans last year when he was third in GTE Am. This is the first time Barker is not driving a Gulf/GR Racing Porsche. Hardwick and Robichon fell out after 28 laps in last year's race. Hardwick and Robichon did win the ELMS GT championship last year.

#78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3

Drivers: Timur Boguslavskiy (1st), Arnold Robin (3rd), Kelvin van der Linde (1st)

Test Day: 4th

About This Team: In its first season in WEC, Lexus has only one point between its two entries. Boguslavskiy is a two-time GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion while Robin won the Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 championship last year. Van der Linde is a two-time 24 Hours Nürburgring winner. 

#81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Drivers: Rui Andrade (4th), Charlie Eastwood (5th), Tom van Rompuy (2nd)

Test Day: 10th

About This Team: The #81 Corvette won pole position at the Qatar season opener but failed to score points in two fo the first three rounds of the WEC season. Andrade won the WEC LMP2 title last year while Eastwood was second in the GTE Am class at Le Mans. Eastwood won in GTE Am at Le Mans in 2020. Van Rompuy made his debut in LMP2 last year and finished 32nd overall, 31 lap down and 17 laps off the LMP2 class winner.

#82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Drivers: Sébastien Baud (1st), Daniel Juncadella (1st), Hiroshi Koizumi (1st)

Test Day: 1st

About This Team: The #82 Corvette has yet to finish better than eighth this season, but it was on top o the test with a lap at 3:59.883. Juncadella was second in the IMSA GTD Pro championship last year. Baud drove in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup's bronze class last year and Koizumi was in Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2023.

#85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2

Drivers: Sarah Bovy (4th), Rahel Frey (7th), Michelle Gatting (6th)

Test Day: 8th

About This Team: Frey remains in the Iron Dames entry as Doraine Pin misses the race due to a ribs injury suffered in Formula Regional European competition. This trio was fourth in GTE Am last year and they ended up second in the championship. Iron Dames was on pole position at Spa-Francorchamps before finishing fifth.

#86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Riccardo Pera (4th), Daniel Serra (8th), Michael Wainwright (9th)

Test Day: 11th

About This Team: GR Racing moved to ELMS competition this year and Pera and Wainwright are third in the championship after finishing second and fifth in the first two races. They were third at Le Mans last year. With Rigon driving for AF Corse, Serra moves over from Kessel Racing in ELMS. Serra has been first or second in class in four Le Mans appearances. 

#87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3

Drivers: Takeshi Kimura (6th), Jack Hawksworth (1st), Esteban Masson (1st)

Test Day: 16th

About This Team: Hawksworth found a seat in the #87 Lexus lineup after José María López moved to the #7 Toyota in Hypercar after Mike Conway's injury. Hawksworth won the IMSA GTD Pro championship last year, and he won the GTD Pro class in the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year. The #87 Lexus has finished 16th, 15th and 14th in the first three WEC races.

#88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

Drivers: Dennis Olsen (3rd), Mikkel O. Pedersen (3rd), Giorgio Roda (3rd)

Test Day: 19th

About This Team: Olsen returns to Le Mans for the first time in three years. Pedersen's entry has not finished in his first two Le Mans appearances. Roda last appeared at Le Mans in 2019 and, like Pedersen, neither of Roda's first two entries have finished the race.

#91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

Drivers: Richard Lietz (18th), Morris Schuring (1st), Yasser Shahin (1st)

Test Day: 22nd

About This Team: The most recent winners at Spa-Francorchamp, Lietz is looking for his fifth Le Mans class victory. Shahin is a two-time GT World Challenge Australia champion and he won the Pro-Am class in the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year. Schuring was fourth in Porsche Supercup last year.

#92 Manthey Pure Rxing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

Drivers: Klaus Bachler (4th), Alex Malykhin (1st), Joel Sturm (1st)

Test Day: 23rd

About This Team: After finishes of first, third and second, the #92 Porsche leads the LMGT3 championship on 72 points, 35 points ahead of the competition. The Pure Rxing group won the Asian Le Mans GT championship this past winter.

#95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Drivers: Hiroshi Hamaguchi (1st), Nico Pino (2nd), Marino Sato (1st)

Test Day: 7th

About This Team: Hamaguchi joins this team for Le Mans replacing Josh Caygill, who runs the remainder of the WEC season. Pino was third in LMP2 last year at Le Mans while Sato was second in the ELMS LMP2 championship in 2023 with United Autosports. 

#155 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Conrad Laursen (1st), Johnny Laursen (2nd), Jordan Taylor (9th)

Test Day: 20th

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About This Team: Taylor makes his first Le Mans appearance in something other than a Corvette. He won the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year driving a Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura. The Laursens won the ELMS season opener in the GT3 class at Barcelona. Johnny Laursen's first Le Mans appearance was in 2016. 

#777 D'station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo

Drivers: Erwan Bastard (1st), Satoshi Hoshino (5th), Marco Sørensen (10th)

Test Day: 17th

About This Team: Bastard spent last season in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver Cup class. D'station has failed to finish in the previous two years at Le Mans. Sørensen won in the GTE Am class at Le Mans two years ago.

Wednesday Recap

BMW was the surprise fastest in the Hypercar qualifying session as the #15 BMW had the fastest lap at 3:24.465. The #3 Cadillac was second only 0.177 seconds off the leading BMW. The #50 Ferrari was third while the #35 Alpine was in fourth. 

The #2 Cadillac rounded out the top five, only 0.056 seconds ahead of the #51 Ferrari. The #6 Porsche was another 0.002 seconds behind the Ferrari in seventh. The #7 Toyota brought out a red flag and had all of its lap times deleted, meaning the Japanese manufacturer will not have a representative in Hyperpole session. With the #7 Toyota knocked out of the top eight, the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche took the final Hyperpole spot. However, the #12 Porsche suffered an accident in Wednesday night practice and the team will be changing over to a spare chassis ahead of Thursday’s sessions.

The #36 Alpine will be starting ninth ahead of the #5 Porsche and #8 Toyota. The #83 Ferrari will start 12th while the best Lamborghini will be the #63 entry in 13th. Proton Competition's #99 Porsche takes 14th on the grid ahead of the #93 Peugeot, #20 BMW and #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche.

Whelen Cadillac Racing has the #311 Cadillac starting 18th, just ahead of the #4 Porsche. The #94 Peugeot rounds out the top twenty ahead of the #19 Lamborghini and the #11 Isotta Fraschini. With the lap times deleted, the #7 Toyota will start 23rd on race day.

Cool Racing led the LMP2 qualifying session with the #37 Oreca running a lap at 3:32.827, over three tenths faster than the #14 AO by TF Oreca. United Autosport put the #23 Oreca third in the session with the #65 Panis Racing exactly one second off the top time.

The #28 IDEC Sport Race rounded out the top five ahead of the #10 Vector Sport Oreca. DKR Engineering was a surprise in seventh while the #22 United Autosport Oreca took the final spot in the LMP2 Hyperpole session.

Seven different manufacturers took the eight Hyperpole spots in LMGT3, starting with the #77 Proton Competition Ford, which ran a lap at 3:55.263. Inception Racing had the #70 McLaren in second, 0.143 seconds off the top with the #82 TF Sport Corvette in third, 0.842 seconds from the #77 Ford. The #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini was in fourth.

Manthey Pure Rxing had the #92 Porsche in fifth ahead of the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin by 0.054 seconds. JMW Motorsport had the #66 Ferrari in seventh while D'Station Racing took the final spot with the #777 Aston Martin 0.030 seconds ahead of the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini and 0.061 seconds clear of the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus.

Thursday begins with a three-hour practice at 9:00 a.m. ET. Hyperpole qualifying will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET before a one-hour night practice at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

There will be a 15-minute warm-up at 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday June 10 with the 91st 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET.